Two canal houses, called twins, both with neckgables on Keizersgracht, designed by H. RuseCanal houses in Haarlem
A canal house (Dutch: grachtenpand) is a (usually old) house overlooking a canal. These houses are often slim, high and deep. Canal houses usually had a basement and a loft and attic where trade goods could be stored. A special beam or pulley installation would be located in the attic to hoist up valuable goods, like spices, cotton, or heavier stuff like cocoa. In recent times, the pulleys are only used (albeit rarely) for moving furniture.
At the back of a canal house, there will usually be a back garden that runs either halfway or to the house behind. The garden would be laid out to the taste of the time and the financial position of the owner. At the bottom of the garden, there was sometimes a summerhouse where family and visitors could relax.
In the second half of the 17th century, there would sometimes be built a rear extension of the building and linked by a passage to the front house. The courtyard ensured light. It could be used for many purposes, and during World War II Anne Frank and her family were using the back house as a hiding place.
When the first owner of the house had more houses built by the same carpenter or contractor and using the same or mirrored design these are called twin or triplet houses. There are even sets of four or five identically designed houses. In those cases, the houses will be smaller than a normal house (as three houses were built on two land lot). The width of a canal house and the depth of its garden varies a lot. (This is because the land lots in the 17th century started from 18 feet (an Amsterdam foot being 28.13 cm) but then went to 20, 22, 24 and 26 feet.)
Along the canals in Amsterdam are also double wide houses, especially along the Herengracht. These mansions were built on two land plots, a back house was usually not needed. At Herengracht 386, the museum Het Grachtenhuis (The Canal House) is located, which tells the story of the Amsterdam canal belt.
If one also bought the lots behind those houses and built a carriage house and or warehouses, it was sometimes referred to as a "city palace". Warehouses were much deeper than houses, sometimes 40m. As trading and transport patterns changed, the warehouses lost their original function. After World War II many have been turned into living accommodations.
Because of the danger of flooding in the early 18th century the front door is sometimes higher up and only accessible via stairs. The floor of the main storey lies about seven to nine steps above street level. Many stoops disappeared in the 19th century when entrances were moved to the basement.
The Prinsengracht is a 3.2-kilometer (2.0 mi)-long canal that runs parallel to the Keizersgracht in the center of Amsterdam. The canal, named after the Prince of Orange, is the fourth of the four main canals belonging to the canal belt.
The Anne Frank House is a writer's house and biographical museum dedicated to Jewish wartime diarist Anne Frank. The building is located on a canal called the Prinsengracht, close to the Westerkerk, in central Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
Museum Geelvinck Hinlopen Huis was situated from its opening 1991 till the end of 2015 in a canal-side mansion, the Geelvinck Hinlopen Huis in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. This patrician mansion, close to the Rembrandtplein, was built for Albert Geelvinck (1647-1693) and Sara Hinlopen (1660-1749), then in an attractive and new laid-out section of the city towards the Amstel. In the year 1687 the couple moved into this double wide house, with storage rooms in the cellar, under the attic and in the warehouse on Keizersgracht 633, now the entrance.
The Keizersgracht is a canal in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It is the second of the three main Amsterdam canals that together form the Grachtengordel, or canal belt, and lies between the inner Herengracht and outer Prinsengracht.
The Herengracht is the second of four Amsterdam canals belonging to the canal belt and lies between the Singel and the Keizersgracht. The Gouden Bocht in particular is known for its large and beautiful canal houses.
The Gouden Bocht is the most prestigious part of the Herengracht in Amsterdam, Netherlands, between Leidsestraat and Vijzelstraat.
Amsterdam, capital of the Netherlands, has more than 100 kilometers (62 mi) of grachten (canals), about 90 islands and 1,500 bridges. The three main canals, dug in the 17th century during the Dutch Golden Age, form concentric belts around the city, known as the Grachtengordel. Alongside the main canals are 1550 monumental buildings. The 17th-century canal ring area, including the Prinsengracht, Keizersgracht, Herengracht and Jordaan, were listed as UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010, contributing to Amsterdam's fame as the "Venice of the North".
Hotel Pulitzer is a five star luxury hotel in Amsterdam, located on the Prinsengracht and Keizersgracht. The hotel consists of 25 historic canal houses from the 17th and 18th century, merged into one and opened as a hotel in 1970 after several canal houses were bought by Howard Johnson's.
The Grachtengordel, known in English as the Canal District, is a neighborhood in Amsterdam, Netherlands located in the Centrum district. The seventeenth-century canals of Amsterdam, located in the center of Amsterdam, were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in August 2010. The Amsterdam Canal District consists of the area around the city's four main canals: the Singel, the Herengracht, the Keizersgracht, and the Prinsengracht. From the Brouwersgracht, the canals are generally parallel with one another, leading gradually southeast into the Amstel river.
Negen Straatjes is a neighbourhood of Amsterdam, Netherlands located in the Grachtengordel, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Brouwersgracht is a canal in Amsterdam that connects the Singel with the Singelgracht. The canal marks the northwestern border of the Grachtengordel. Between the Prinsengracht and the Singelgracht the Brouwersgracht forms the northern border of the Jordaan neighborhood.
The Egelantiersgracht in Amsterdam is a canal in the Jordaan neighbourhood in the Amsterdam-Centrum borough. The canal lies between the Prinsengracht and the Lijnbaansgracht.
The Passeerdersgracht is a short canal in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, that connects the Prinsengracht with the Lijnbaansgracht. The canal is the southernmost in the Jordaan neighbourhood and borders the west part of the Grachtengordel.
The Nieuwe Herengracht is a canal in Centrum district of Amsterdam. The canal is an extension of the Herengracht that runs between the Amstel and the Scharrebiersluis (lock) leading to the Schippersgracht from the Entrepotdok. It is in the Plantage neighborhood in the eastern part of the Grachtengordel.
The Nieuwe Keizersgracht is a canal in Amsterdam, part of the eastern Grachtengordel.
The Nieuwe Prinsengracht is a canal in the Plantage neighborhood of Amsterdam, an extension of the Prinsengracht in the eastern Grachtengordel.
The Leidsegracht is a canal in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is a cross-canal in Amsterdam-Center that connects Herengracht, Keizersgracht, Prinsengracht and Lijnbaansgracht and flows into the Singelgracht at Marnixstraat.
The Entrepotdok, formerly Nieuwe Rapenburgergracht, is a canal in Amsterdam, and a street and row of former warehouses with the same name along the northeast side of the canal. They were constructed between 1708 and 1829, used for storage, squatted in the 1990s and are now converted into apartments. Entrepotdok is the largest inhabited warehouse complex in Amsterdam. The canal runs between the Kadijksplein and Sarphatistraat, and is parallel to Hoogte Kadijk, Laagte Kadijk, Plantage Doklaan and Natura Artis Magistra zoo.
The Looiersgracht is a short canal in Amsterdam, between Prinsengracht and Lijnbaansgracht in the Jordaan neighborhood of the Amsterdam-Centrum district. The Looiersgracht borders the Grachtengordel. The Oude Looiersstraat runs parallel to the canal, and the Eerste, Tweede and Derde Looiersdwarsstraat are side streets entering the north side.
The Leliegracht is a canal in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, between Herengracht and Prinsengracht. The canal lies within the western Grachtengordel in the Jordaan neighborhood of the Amsterdam-Centrum district.
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Prinsengracht canal, Amsterdam
Leidsegracht canal, Amsterdam
Keizersgracht canal, Amsterdam
Canal houses, Prinsengracht
Museum Van Loon gardens
Aerial photograph of Westerkerk and Anne Frank House
