Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
port. Then follow the subsequent canalization
as the city fills in its fortified center and con-
tinues to expand outward in rings.
• Go through the glass doors and up the first set
of stairs. Enter the room with the sign above
that says Start/Rondgang 1350-2000 Grand
To u r .
Rooms 2-7: From a City of
Monasteries to a Trading
Power
Rooms 2-3 show how Amsterdam was once a Catholic city rich
with monasteries. Then (Room 5) it's 1650, and it's clear that
Holland has become a great trading power. Room 6 shows the
growth of Dam Square, with models of the Royal Palace/Town
Hall and the tower of the New Church (Nieuwe Kerk).
• Climb the stairs.
Rooms 8-9: Amsterdam's Harbor and
Medieval Justice
Look for the interesting model (in the stairwell) showing how
ships got in and out of the city's shallow harbor. Ingenious 150-foot
wooden pontoons, pumped full of air, were attached to the sides
of ships to float them high over sandbars. The next room (Room
9, with the tough-sounding title “Social Care, Stern Discipline”)
displays instruments of medieval-style justice and paintings of
great faces, from the big shots to the orphans who used to inhabit
this building. This room provides a handy opportunity to study
the paintings hanging in the atrium outside this wing, called the
Shooting Gallery. There are several 17th-century group portraits of
shooting club members, including fine English descriptions.
• In Room 10, find a staircase up to...
Carillon Lessons
Invented by Dutch bellmakers in the
1400s and perfected in the 1600s,
this musical instrument is a Flemish
specialty. The carillon player (called a
“carillonneur”), seated at his keyboard
up in the tower, presses keys with his
fists and feet, jerking wires that swing
clappers against tuned bells. The
bells range in size from 20-pound
high notes to 8-ton low notes, struck
by 100-pound clappers. These days,
some carillons have electric actions to
 
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