Royal Palace of Amsterdam

Until the beginning of the 19th century, the Royal Palace housed the headquarters of the City of Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands. The one that was the main world commercial power in the 17th century, was run from a building that did not honor the splendor and power of the city. The city hall had become too small and the need for a new seat for city government had become a priority.

The design of the building was the work of the architect Jacob van Campen, while the construction fell to the architect Daniël Stalpaert. The works lasted from 1648 to 1665. The instability of the ground forced the creation of a firm base made up of 13,659 wooden piles on which the current stone building imported from Germany was built.

In the current Royal Palace in Amsterdam, or Koninklijk Paleis in Dutch, the tasks of a city council were carried out until the Napoleonic invasion of 1806. Two years later, in 1808, the one who had become the new king with the occupation of Holland, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte or Louis I of Holland, brother of the French emperor, decided to make the Royal Palace his royal residence. This would explain the decorative style of most of its furniture, in the French imperial style.

After the fall of the French Empire, the first king of the Netherlands, Guillermo I of Holland, would continue maintaining the function of the Royal Palace. This is just one of the four palaces occupied by the current kings of the Netherlands: William Alexander and Maxim of the Netherlands.