Prinsengracht, named for William the Silent, Prince of Orange and forefather of the royal family, is the least upmarket of the main canals and also the liveliest. Instead of stately offices and banks, there are shops and cafes where you can sit outside in summer. The houses are smaller and narrower than along the other canals, and apartments are still relatively affordable by canal standards; houseboats line the quays. Together with the adjoining Jordaan neighbourhood (see the following section), this is an area where anyone can feel comfortable.
The Noorderkerk at Noordermarkt, near the northern end of the canal, was completed in 1623 to a design by Hendrick de Keyser as a Calvinist church for the 'common' people in the Jordaan (the upper classes attended his Westerkerk farther south). It was built in the shape of a broad Greek cross (four arms of equal length) around a central pulpit, giving the whole congregation unimpeded access to the word of God in suitably sober surroundings.
This design, unusual at the time, would become common for Protestant churches throughout the country. A sculpture near the entrance commemorates the bloody Jordaan riots of July 1934, when five people died protesting the government's austerity measures, including a 12% reduction of already pitiful unemployment benefits.
The Noordermarkt has been a market square since the early 1600s. It now hosts a lively flea market on Monday morning where you can find some wonderful bargains. Early on Saturday morning there's a bird market (caged birds, rabbits etc a holdover from the former livestock market), followed till early afternoon by a 'farmer's market' (boerenmarkt) with organic produce, herbs etc.
On the opposite side of Prinsengracht, between Prinsenstraat and Leliegracht, is a row of former warehouses stretching from No 187 to 217.
At No 263 is the Anne Frankhuis, probably the most famous canal house in Amsterdam with half a million visitors a year. Interest focuses on the achterhuis, the 'rear house' or annexe where the Jewish Anne Frank and her family went into hiding from 1942 to 1944 to escape deportation by the Germans. The museum ( 556 71 00) is open daily from 9 am to 5 pro (to 7 pm from June to August). Admission costs fl 0, or f5 with discounts (free for children aged under 10). The queues in summer can be exasperating but they should be OK if you arrive before opening time.
Anne probably couldn't see but could certainly hear the carillon in the tower of the Westerkerk, at 85m the highest church tower in the city. It's topped by the imperial crown that Habsburg emperor Maximilian I bestowed to the city's coat of arms in 1489. The tower, the tourist logo of Amsterdam today, affords a tremendous view over the city, including the differing layouts of
the
canal belt and the streets in the Jordaan. The climb is strenuous, though.
The church is the main gathering place for Amsterdam's Dutch Reformed community. It was built as a showcase Protestant church for the rich to a 1620 design by Hendrick de Keyser, who copied his design of the Zuiderkerk but increased the scale. De Keyser died in 1621 and the church was completed by Jacob van Campen in 1630. The square tower dates from 1638 De Keyser would have made it hexagonal or octagonal. The nave, 29m wide and 28m high, is the largest of any Dutch Protestant church and is covered by a wooden barrel vault (the marshy ground precluded the use of heavy stone).
The huge main organ dates from 1686, with panels decorated with biblical scenes and instruments by Gerard de Lairesse. The secondary organ is used for Bach cantatas.
Rembrandt, who died bankrupt at nearby Rozengracht, was buried in the church on 8 October 1669 but no one knows exactly where possibly near his son Titus' grave.
The church (Ph: 624 77 66) is open from Easter to mid September, Monday to Friday from I I am to 3 pm (also Saturday in July and August). The tower is open from I April to 30 September, Monday to Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm, and costs f3.
The church stands on Westermarkt. Until 1857 the eastern part of the square was dominated by the monumental Westerhal, with a meat hall at ground level and the headquarters of the city watch upstairs. In 1634 the French philosopher Rene Descartes resided in the house at No 6 on the quiet northern side of the square. He was one of many foreign intellectuals who found the freedom to develop and express their ideas in Amsterdam (others included Locke, Comenius, Voltaire and Marx), or who had their works published here. According to Voltaire, the residents were so preoccupied with profit that they would never notice him even if he spent his entire life here.
Farther south along Prinsengracht is the Pulitzer Hotel, which started business in
1971 and now occupies the 17 adjoining canal houses between Nos 299 and 331, all connected with internal staircases and passages. The gables have been meticulously restored, along with some of the interior features. A free classical concert is held from barges in the canal in August.
If you continue south along the same (eastern) side of the canal you might notice a number of very narrow alleyways between Berenstraat and Leidsegracht, closed off with gates. They were officially intended as side entrances for servants' quarters at the rear but such quarters were rented out as accommodation and workshops to the city's poor. These hidden slums, in damp cellars and clustered around dark courtyards, violated the municipal codes of the canal belt but nobody took much notice, probably because they were opposite the southern reaches of the Jordaan had they been on Herengracht or Keizersgracht it might have been a different story.
