Royal Palace Amsterdam

The Royal Palace Amsterdam stands on the Dam square, held up by over thirteen thousand wooden piles driven deep into the swampy soil. It began in sixteen forty-eight as a city hall, designed to project the wealth of a global merchant empire through a facade of pale yellow sandstone. When Louis Bonaparte, Napoleon's brother, moved in as king in eighteen oh eight, he forced the city to hand over the keys and converted the great citizen's hall into his own throne room.