Town hall The new
stadhuis (town hall) was opened on 29 July 1655 by
Cornelis de Graeff, the
Burgemeester (
Burgomaster or Mayor) of Amsterdam. De Graeff's son,
Jacob de Graeff, laid the foundation for this along with three other children. The main architect was
Jacob van Campen, who took control of the construction project in 1648. It was built on 13,659
wooden piles. The old city hall was next to the
Wisselbank, which in turn faced the
weigh house next to the landing wharves along
Damrak, which at that time would have been busy with ships. The fire on 7 July 1652 was most disastrous for the treasury of coins in the old city hall, the coins being eagerly "saved" by the helpful populace. Comparison of details of city maps before and after the fire show how construction was altered to clear buildings unaffected by the fire for an entire city block in order to create a safe buffer from other buildings and reduce the chances of fire ever again. SA 40246-De brand van het oude stadhuis op de Dam (7 juli 1652).jpg|The fire in the old
stadhuis (city hall),1652-1666, by
Jan Abrahamsz Beerstraaten De brand in het Oude Stadhuis van Amsterdam, 1652, RP-P-AO-28-44-2.jpg|Print of the townsfolk gathering water to douse the flames, 1652-1690, by
Jan van der Heyden De puinhopen van het Oude Stadhuis te Amsterdam na de brand van 7 juli 1652, SK-A-21.jpg|The ruins of the old city hall,1652-1666, by Jan Abrahamsz Beerstraaten The new town hall was opened on 29 July 1655 by
Cornelis de Graeff, the
Burgemeester (Mayor) of Amsterdam. De Graeff's son,
Jacob de Graeff, laid the foundation for this along with three other children. The main architect was
Jacob van Campen, who took control of the construction project in 1648. It was built on 13,659
wooden piles. Balthasar Florisz. van Berckenrode 003.jpg|Detail of 1625 map by
Balthasar Florisz. van Berckenrode Balthasar Florisz. van Berckenrode 004.jpg|Detail of 1648 map by Balthasar Florisz. van Berckenrode
Palace museum and Royal Palace After the
patriot revolution which swept the
House of Orange from power a decade earlier, the new
Batavian Republic was forced to accept
Louis Bonaparte as its new monarch in 1806, with the title King Louis I of Holland (
Dutch:
Koning Lodewijk I van Holland). The Batavian Republic was abolished at this time, in March 1806, being replaced by the
Kingdom of Holland. After initially holding his court at The Hague and
Utrecht, King Louis I moved to Amsterdam in 1808. Louis converted the public rooms of the
stadhuis (town hall) into a national museum under the direction of
Cornelis Apostool, and he took the rest of the building for himself as a Royal Palace. The palace was renovated from 2005 until June 2009, during which, among other things,
asbestos was removed. The palace has been open again to visitors since 14 June 2009. ==Notable features==