ROYAL PALACE
The Royal Palace was presented to
honeymooners travelling on KLM.
There are two versions of the Palace : the first one has an octagonal
turret, the secon one hexagonal.
The celebrated architect Jacob van Campen, took control of the
building-project in 1648.
The entire building was constructed of white stone, though the
weathering of the centuries has left none of it visible. On 20 July
1655, the burgomasters and the magistrates opened the first section.
The Royal Palace is famous for it.s rich and imposing decorations.
Renowned sculptors were brought to Amsterdam and famous painters such
as Rembrandt and Ferdinand Bol contributed to the interior. The central
theme, featuring in much of the decoration, was the power of Amsterdam
in particular and the Dutch Republic in general. The building served as
the city hall for a century and a half.
In 1806, the Batavian Republic was forced to accept Louis Napoleon, the
brother of the French Emperor, as the King of Holland. Louis Napoleon
originally opted to live in The Hague, but in 1807 he decided to move
to Amsterdam. In 1808, he took possession of the city hall and
conversed it to a Royal Palace with decoration in the Empire style.
Visitors of the Royal Palace can still visit the famous collection of
Empire furniture bought by Louis Napoleon.
On the fall of Emperor Napoleon in 1813, Prince William, later King
William I, returned the Palace to the city of Amsterdam. However, after
his investiture, the new King realised the importance of having a home
in the capital, and asked the city authorities to make the Palace
available to him once again. It was not until 1936 that it became state
property.
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