50 Feature EYE ON TRAVEL

17th CENTURY LIVES ’s Canal District celebrates city’s Golden Age by Maryalicia Post

he 17th century is alive and well in Amsterdam as the city, the venue for the XXXI ESCRS Congress from 5-9 October, celebrates the T400-year anniversary of its famous Canal District, now an UNESCO Heritage Site. The city's fathers embarked on the construction of the “,” a girdle of four canals with intersecting waterways, in the city's Golden Age. They designated three of the canals – the Herengracht, and – for residential development. A canal house kitchen An Amsterdam bridge Canal view The fourth, the , was designated for defence and water management. Although about the people who built these houses and A bonus to visitors to the Museum of living conditions were on board when the Amsterdam, like every modern city, now has what lies behind these lovingly preserved Bags and Purses, 573 Herengracht, is a skipper lived there with his family. There's its shopping malls, ring roads and a shabby exteriors, enter one of them to imagine for look inside an elegant old building. In a museum shop selling among other things, Central Station area, the Grachtengordel, still yourself what life was like; there are several 2006, the house was given to the woman books on houseboats. Prinsengracht 296K. encloses neighbourhoods of durable charm. possibilities. One is the Van Loon mansion whose astonishing collection it now houses Open daily 11:00 to 17:00. Here the 17th century has been intruded at Keizergracht 672. Built in 1691, its first by an anonymous and very generous www.houseboatmuseum.nl. upon only lightly by the 21st. resident was a pupil of Rembrandt. Wider benefactor. There are painted ceilings, Nearby on Prinsengracht 263-267, Where to begin? A short walk from than most of the canal side houses, this an elaborate reception room, and an is the “Anne Frank House.” Over one the railway station brings you to the building was purchased by Hendrik Van exceptionally pleasant cafe overlooking the million people a year make their way to Grachtenhuis museum, the “gateway” to the Loon as a wedding present for his son in garden. Incidentally, you don’t have to be the house to see for themselves the hidden canals, at 386 Herengracht. Scale models of 1884. The house is still in the possession of particularly interested in bags and purses annex in which this young Jewish girl, her the city and the canal houses plus multimedia the Van Loon family, who open their home to enjoy a visit to the museum exhibitions. parents and sister along with four other presentations tell the story of the expansion and collections to the public six days a week. Through the story of these accessories the people, evaded the Nazis for two years. of the inner canal system in Amsterdam. The The house is unique in that the garden and curators have illustrated history itself, from Betrayed in 1945, they were transported building is not only a beautiful example of the coach house with its classic facade are the days when bags and purses were unisex to extermination camps where all but the a canal house, but offers an overview of life also preserved. Open 11:00 to 17:00 except on to the present. Open daily 10:00 to 17:00. father died. Anne Frank's diary, found in the city from the 17th to the 21st century. Tuesdays. www.museumvanloon.nl. www.tassenmuseum.nl. in the abandoned secret rooms, has been Open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 The Willet-Holthuysen canal house at 605 Houseboats line the canals in the translated into over 30 languages. The to 17:00. www.hetgrachtenhuis.nl. Herengracht affords another quiet glimpse Grachtengordel; they are now some of the first digital edition of the book, containing You could also begin with a walk along the into the past. Built in 1687 and left to the most prized residences in the city. There previously unseen material including video canals, admiring the facades of the elegant city in 1894, its rooms are a time capsule are over 2,500 of them, each with its own footage, was launched earlier this year as red brick houses, as they themselves seem of well-to-do life in Amsterdam in times address, postal delivery and access to the an app for iPad and Nook. An exhibition to admire their own reflection in the water. gone by. Visit the kitchens, the garden, and city services. The Hendrika Marja, built in centre, shop and cafe have been added Take photographs from the bridges. Let time the reception rooms. Open daily, Monday 1913, was a freighter until it was converted to the side of the house to accommodate go by while you enjoy a coffee in a corner to Friday 10:00 to 17:00, weekends 11:00 to into a houseboat in the 1960s. It's now the seemingly endless queue of visitors. side cafe. And then if you start to wonder 17:00. www.willetholthuysen.org. a museum where you can see what the Consider booking a time slot online; you print out your ticket in advance and enter with minimal delay through a separate doorway. The visit may break your heart but you won't forget it. www.annefrank.org. ™ RUSSIAN LANGUAGE EDITION Cross the Prinsengracht with the Anne NOW ONLINE Frank House at your back, and you are heading into the section, one of EURESCRS OTIMES the prettiest areas of Amsterdam, full of boutiques, antique shops and restaurants. РОССИЙСКИЙ ВЫПУСК Just opposite the Anne Frank House is the highly recommended Cafe de Prins, Prinsengracht 124. Although it has retained its “brown café” character, this is a stylish place to enjoy anything from a simple snack Visit: www.eurotimesrussian.org to a fine dinner. The kitchen is open from 10:00 until 20:00 daily. www.cafedeprins.nl.

EUROTIMES | Volume 18 | Issue 6