The Canals and decline of the Golden Age

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The city would't exist without the canals, the canals shaped it and made it to be prosperous and so beautiful. The canals were treated as a tool which established the trade and determined how the whole city worked and prospered. Unbelievable but true, the canals are this city, it stands for the heritage the whole Europe admires nowadays.

The most prominent canal lies at Herengracht it is 3.5 km long. This and other canals were precious for ships which moored directly in front of the merchant's houses. It must have looked magnificent. 

The nowadays Jordaan area looked as we do realize completely different, it is without a question the most desirable part of the city. Its development is dated back to 1612 where the district began its modern era. It provided accommodation to local artisans and small factories. All around the area small regular buildings plots emerged, fine houses, as well. The town plan is outstanding, it includes 90 islands linked by 500 bridges. Most of the canals have been completed by XVII and XVIII century. To have a house by the canal was not an easy thing to obtain; house-holders had to accept many strict regulations. Despite of this nuisance – the houses were sold within a moment.

Zoning laws limited how deep the houses could be; insisted on a certain amount of clearance between the backs of houses on adjacent canal. The city was already very attractive; modern housing was filled with decorative ornaments and elements. It all made it much more appalling and pleasing to the eye. Those elements were called ''architectural good manners''. The Fine buildings are mostly churches and cathedrals.

It is not the sole attraction the Golden Age prepared for us, another was Art and believe me – it was not the art for art sake! One immerse example of it is the Royal Palace. This impressive monument was designed and brought to life in 1665 by the humble and very modest painter and designer from Haarlem – Jacob van Campen. He had to overcome tremendous difficulties to make this place a reality; he did it and gave a credibility of the finest art of all. The Royal Palace was construed on 13,659 pilling which were dug 18 meters (60ft) deep. The old-school formula says:

''(...) take the number of days in a year and add a one at the beginning and a nine at the end (...)''

The gates of the Royal Palace are fitted with gun-ports for muskets, the narrow staircases and hidden entrances were designed to allow officials to defend the building easily against mob attack.


Vermeer's ''View of Delft''


The palace is portrayed on various oil paintings, however, the Golden Age of Amsterdam brought to this city artists who were much more interested in realism; the landscapes, the seascapes and the lovely cowscapes. For instance Frans Hals (1580-1666) is often called the first modern painter. Jan Vermeer (1623-1675) dedicated all his paintings to the city he lived in – Delft. More than thirty of his works are acknowledged and recognized as the Great Dutch Masters. The one – the most well-known is ''View of Delft'' – the colors stands for itself – are vivid, rich, most importantly – the overwhelming joy is palatable. The last is always the best, hence, the king of them all is Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669). His first works were about his hometown – Leiden. The great volume of his works can be seen in Rijskmuseum, naturally, in Amsterdam. The decline of his art marks the decline of the Golden Age itself. The Golden Age made the Netherlands and Amsterdam very much noticeable, indeed. There might be the end of a certain point in time, however, the city do not ease to exist, it does go on ... .  

Bibliography:

  1. "Eighty Years' War" . Leiden University. Archived from the original on 12 May 2008. Retrieved 21 May 2008.
  2. E. Haverkamp-Bergmann, Rembrandt; The Night Watch (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1982
  3.  "Amsterdam through the ages -A medieval village becomes a global city". Archived from the original on 1 May 2008. Retrieved 21 May 2008.
  4. "English Reformed Church Amsterdam". Archived from the original on 24 January 2005. Retrieved 22 May 2008.
  5.  "Diocese of Haarlem". Catholic Hierarchy. Archived from the original on 14 June 2008. Retrieved 4 June 2008.
  6. Van Leeuwen, M.; Oeppen, J.E. (1993), "Reconstructing the Demographic Regime of Amsterdam 1681–1920", Economic and Social History in the Netherlands

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