Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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Royal Palace (Koninklijk Huis)
This palace was built as a lavish City Hall (1648-1655), when Holland was a proud new re-
public and Amsterdam was the richest city on the planet—awash in profit from trade. The
buildingbecamea“RoyalPalace”whenNapoleoninstalledhisbrotherLouisasking(1806).
AfterNapoleon'sfall,itcontinuedasaroyalresidencefortheDutchroyalfamily,theHouse
of Orange. Today, it's one of King Willem-Alexander's official residences, with a single im-
pressive floor open to the public. Visitors can gawk at a grand hall and stroll about 20 rooms
branching off from it, all of them lavishly decorated with chandeliers, paintings, statues, and
furniture that reflect Amsterdam's former status as the center of global trade.
