★★★★★ 5.0
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Royal Palace Amsterdam
The year is 1648, and workers are laying the final white stone blocks on what will become the 8th wonder of the world! This incredible building you're looking at on Dam Square started as Amsterdam's city hall - the BIGGEST non-church building in all of Europe! Can you imagine? For 150 whole years, mayors ran the city from inside these walls where kings now sleep! Here's the coolest part - when Napoleon's brother Louis Bonaparte moved in back in 1808, he brought furniture so fancy that this palace still has the world's largest collection of French Empire style pieces outside of France! Even Rembrandt painted inside these rooms! As you walk through that grand entrance, you're stepping where both famous artists AND real emperors once stood!
Did You Know?
- Originally built as Amsterdam’s City Hall in 1648, the Royal Palace was once the largest secular building in Europe and was so grand that it was nicknamed the 'eighth wonder of the world,' reflecting Amsterdam’s wealth and ambition during the Dutch Golden Age.
- The palace is famously built on 13,659 wooden piles driven into the marshy Amsterdam soil—a remarkable feat of 17th-century engineering that still supports the massive structure today, offering a fascinating glimpse into how the city was built on reclaimed land.
- During its time as a royal residence under King Louis Bonaparte (Napoleon’s brother), the palace was decorated with over 2,000 pieces of lavish Empire-style furniture, much of which is still on display today—making it one of the largest original collections of Empire furniture outside France.