Now we perceive Amsterdam as a city of canals. However, the city has not always been like this. The Singel (belt) was the first to be excavated at the beginning of the XV century. It was more of a defensive moat. After almost 2 centuries, the Amsterdam City Council adopted the project of the humble carpenter Hendrik Staets. The plan was simple and ingenious. In parallel, Singel Status suggested digging 3 more channels. The excavated soil was used to create embankments for the construction of houses. Each channel had a depth of 2 meters and a width of 25 meters, so that 4 barges could disperse in the channel. The width of the embankments was assumed to be 30 meters. The height of the houses excluded the darkening of each other. The project started in 1612 and lasted for almost half a century. Up to 4000 channels could be in the created garland at a time (!!!) ships. The production and houses of the proletarians were moved to the territory of the modern Jordan district beyond the Prinsengracht canal. that's why the houses facing this canal have the most modest facades. The same cannot be said about Herengracht and Kaisersgracht. During the construction process, the city nobility began to buy up plots and decorate the gables of houses in every possible way. During the construction process, a curved pediment in the shape of a bottleneck appeared, invented by Philip Wingbons. These bell-shaped gables have become a signature feature of Amsterdam. Below the gable ridge there was a lifting beam with a lifting mechanism that allowed lifting loads directly from boats and barges to the upper floors. They are used even now, because it is impossible to move bulky furniture up steep stairs. Almost all houses have a narrow facade. This is explained by a large tax on the width of the facade, introduced by the city council. The ingenious Amsterdammers built houses, they built narrow but elongated houses, on the back of which servants lived without windows. It was in such a remote room on the Prinsengracht that Anne Frank's family hid for almost 2 years from 1942 to 1944. Like Venice, a typical tourist attraction is a canal tour. Since I did this 20 years ago, this time I just walked along the canals. It is worth doing both in the afternoon and in the evening, because the impressions differ...

The pattern of the canals do form a ring, making the old city look like a theater. The ring canals are linked to canals in straight lines so they make up streetlike formations for transport. Plan to take long walks along the canals to drink in the atmosphere and admire the scenery. That's what we did.

A different view of many of Amsterdam's sights and it's fascinating history. A canal cruise is well worth the effort. Try one of the evening cruises which has food and drink included. The only negative for us was the weather. The rain made it very difficult to take a decent photo.