The Groenburgwal () is a canal in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

that connects the

Raamgracht The Raamgracht (Frame Canal) is a canal in central Amsterdam that runs from the Kloveniersburgwal to the Zwanenburgwal. The Groenburgwal, Verversstraat and Zanddwarsstraat lead to the Raamgracht. Bridge 225 over the canal is beside the Klovenier ...

with the

Amstel The Amstel () is a river in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. It flows from the Aarkanaal and Drecht in Nieuwveen northwards, passing Uithoorn, Amstelveen, and Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, to the IJ in Amsterdam. Annually, the r ...

. The Groenburgwal is parallel to the

Kloveniersburgwal Kloveniersburgwal is an Amsterdam canal flowing south from Nieuwmarkt to the Amstel River on the edge of the medieval city, lying east of the dam in the centre of Amsterdam. History The Kloveniersburgwal was dug at the end of the 15th century. ...

and the Zwanenburgwal, in the shadow of the tower of the

Zuiderkerk The Zuiderkerk (, "southern church") is a 17th-century Protestant church in the Nieuwmarkt area of Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands. The church played an important part in the life of Rembrandt and was the subject of a painting by Cl ...

History

The area between the Kloveniersburgwal and the Zwanenburgwal was until late in the 16th century "the site outside the fortress at the Amstel". In 1593 the area was added to the city. Cloth weavers worked here. The wool was washed, carded and spun, then cloth was woven from it. After

fulling Fulling, also known as felting, tucking or walking ( Scots: ''waukin'', hence often spelled waulking in Scottish English), is a step in woollen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of woven or knitted cloth (particularly wool) to elimin ...

and dyeing the cloth was tensioned on wooden frames to dry and stretch. The names of the nearby Raamgracht, the Raamsloot near Rusland, dug in 1537, and the Verversstraat (1593) recall those activities. In the early 17th century, the Amstel between Kloveniersburgwal and Groenburgwal and a little later the 's Gravelandse Veer, between Groenburgwal and Blauwbrug, was compressed. Around that time the name Groenburgwal was born; green dyers were specially established here.

Monuments and architecture

*The

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

Christ Church at number 42 is one of the first

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

churches in the country. In 1829, part of the former Cloth Hall 't Staalhoff was rebuilt in neo-Gothic style for this church. *Ceiling paintings from 1633 were found on Groenburgwal 61. *The tile panels on the façade of Groenburgwal 30 state that the St. Vincentius Tusschenschool was located here. *Over the water of the Groenburgwal is a wooden drawbridge at the Staalstraat: the Staalmeestersbrug (no. 227). *The 18th-century stone arch bridge over the Groenburgwal on the Raamgracht is bridge no. 226 . *Groenburgwal 32-34 is the modern wing of a youth hostel, designed by WA Ulrichs and BJF Kamphuis in 1956. (Entrance Kloveniersburgwal 97.)

Trivia

*, the impressionist

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. Durin ...

painted the canvas ''The Zuiderkerk, Amsterdam (Looking up the Groenburgwal)''. The painting is owned by the Philadelphia Museum of Art. *In 1987, a part of the Groenburgwal was converted into Rosse Buurt for two days for the recording of a scene from the Amsterdamned film , because it was not allowed to film on the Red Light District. File:The Zuiderkerk, Amsterdam by Claude Monet, 1874.jpg, ''The Zuiderkerk, Amsterdam (Looking up the Groenburgwal)'' by

File:Eduard Alexander Hilverdink Groenburgwal Amsterdam.jpg, Groenburgwal and River Amstel, Amsterdam (1879). Oil on canvas. File:Amsterdam - De Groenburgwal.jpg, Groenburgwal, as seen from Amstel river, with the Zuiderkerkstoren in the background; around 1900. File:Amsterdam-IMG 0154.JPG, Groenburgwal with a view of Zuiderkerkstoren. File:Overzicht met ophaalbrug - Amsterdam - 20016956 - RCE.jpg, Drawbridge (bridge number 227) crossing Groenburgwal; early 20th century. File:Groenburgwal 2.jpg, Groenburgwal. File:Plafondschildering Groenburgwal 61 achterkamer.jpg, Ceiling painting, dated 1633, at 61 Groenburgwal. File:Winter in Amsterdam (4306542330).jpg, Frozen Groenburgwal with ice-skaters; february 5th, 1976.

Notes

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Groenburgwal Canals in Amsterdam

History

Monuments and architecture

Trivia

See also

Notes

Sources