Houses on a the Oudezijds Achterburgwal in Amsterdam . Edited from one of my own photographs.
In the 17th century, Amsterdam experienced a huge economic boom, which led to the formation of the concentric ring of canals. Four huge ditches were dug around Dam Square, each connecting the currents between Amsterdam's main water sources, the IJ and the Amstel. These new structures were designed to encourage water traffic and ensured that goods could be transported quickly through the city.
As money flowed into the city, many wealthy merchants decided to settle in the centre of Amsterdam, leading to a huge population growth. Due to Amsterdam's cramped layout, housing soon became an issue, and to solve this problem, the municipality began handing out plots of land to wealthy citizens. Although these plots were relatively spacious, they were unusably narrow, allowing the government to build as many houses as possible on the banks of the ring of canals. Some, however, were quite large and wide.
Created by Patricia Hofmeester with support from AI.
Hello and welcome! I am Patricia Hofmeester, come from Rotterdam and have lived in beautiful Groningen for over forty in years. Have been photographing for at least almost 50 years and recently have been working with digital art as well and really enjoy it.
Hope to find work you like...
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