The Gouden Bocht is the most prestigious part of Herengracht in Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

, between Leidsestraat and Vijzelstraat.

Until 1663 Herengracht reached as far as the present Leidsegracht. From that year on, the fortifications around Amsterdam were expanded, within Herengracht, Keizersgracht and Prinsengracht were extended. The digging ended at the river Amstel

Amstel

The Amstel is a river in the Netherlands which runs through the city of Amsterdam. The river's name is derived from Aeme stelle, old Dutch for "area abounding with water"....

 within a few years. The buyers on Herengracht were encouraged to buy two lot

Lot (real estate)

In real estate, a lot or plot is a tract or parcel of land owned or meant to be owned by some owner. A lot is essentially considered a parcel of real property in some countries or immovable property in other countries...

s and built double-wide mansions, and because the three canals here were laid out a little further from each other, and the lots were also deeper. On these large lots, the well-to-do placed their city-palaces with classicist facades, stucco

Stucco

Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...

ed ceilings, and fine gardens, once a year open to the public. In the curve, by the Nieuwe Spiegelstraat, lived Amsterdam's richest citizens, and so this part of the belt of canals was named the "Golden Bend" in recent history.

The House of the family De Neufville (1731), Herengracht 475, and Herengracht 476 are known as having the prettiest facades. Herengracht 466, on the corner of the Nieuwe Spiegelstraat was designed by Philip Vingboons and from 1858 until 1926 the office of the Dutch Trade-Society. On the other corner (Herengracht 464) is the office of lawyer Bram Moszkowicz. The Golden Bend is now mainly made up of banks, with a few exceptions, offices of life insurance companies, and some cultural institutions, like Goethe Institute, as well as a small private-museum, the Kattenkabinet

KattenKabinet

The KattenKabinet is an art museum in Amsterdam devoted to works depicting cats. The museum collection includes paintings, drawings, sculptures and other works of art by Pablo Picasso, Rembrandt, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Corneille, Sal Meijer, Théophile Steinlen, and Jože Ciuha, among others.The...

(Herengracht 497).

Literature

• Hans Tulleners De Gouden Bocht; 21 monumenten aan de Amsterdamse Herengracht (1989)
• Stichting ITARR/ARRS 'De Gouden Bocht van Amsterdam' ISBN 90-810694-1-1 (2006)
• Urban Home & Garden Tours, architectuur rondleidingen met bezoek aan interieurs en tuinen Gouden Bocht Amsterdam

External links

• Amsterdamse grachtenhuizen Panorama Gouden Bocht (Dutch)