For information about the history and a virtual tour of the “Paleis op de Dam,” make sure to visit: https://www.paleisamsterdam.nl/

From about the 1580s until the 1670s, the Dutch Republic experienced its “Golden Age.” One of the seven Dutch provinces that had formed an alliance against the Spanish oppressors in the 16th century, lay the groundwork for the small, but powerful Dutch Republic that dominated the seas and established a colonial empire in the Americas, South Africa, Formosa, and Batavia in the 17th century. With its fleet of 2000 ships (more than the British and French fleets combined), it dominated the spice trade.

The harbor of Amsterdam started the first stock market exchange in the world, making the county of Holland the richest and most developed at that time. During the “Golden Age,” most citizens were well-fed, had a high degree of independence and religious freedom, and a democratic system of government. It was a time of relative stability and great prosperity in which scientists (like the father of microbiology, Anthony van Leeuwenhoek) and painters (like Rembrandt van Rijn and Johannes Vermeer) flourished.

This was the time when wealthy merchants built their iconic Amsterdam canal houses with several stories because they were taxed according to the number of square meters of the first floor. Note that these houses have hooks and pulleys in their gables to move furniture or merchandise up.

For a good explanation of Amsterdam building styles and gables, see: https://www.amsterdamforvisitors.com/canal-house-gables/

At about half a square kilometer, Vondel Park is the main urban park within Amsterdam, located south-west of the city center. The park is named after the versatile, prolific, and much decorated, seventeenth century Dutch writer and poet Joost van den Vondel. With its rose gardens, large trees, tea house, fancy Vondel Pavilion, bistro “the Milk House,” and the Festina Tennis Courts, where Kairos used to go with his friends, the Vondel Park is often called the “garden of Amsterdam.”

Kairos’ fiancée, Anna-Sophie Romijn was from a wealthy upper-class family. Their estate on King’s Lane (“Koningslaan)” bordered the Vondel park.