Prinsengracht Westerkerk Amsterdam

Construction began in 1612, on the initiative of mayor Frans Hendricksz. Oetgens, to a design by city carpenter Hendrick Jacobsz Staets and city surveyor Lucas Jansz Sinck.

The section between Leidsegracht and the Amstel belonged to the 1658 expansion. The last expansion included the section east of the Amstel. This section was named Nieuwe Prinsengracht.

Following Prinsengracht, between Brouwersgracht and Westerdok, is Korte Prinsengracht.

At the level of Reestraat, the vegetable market had been held since the mid-17th century. Barges from outside the city docked here with fresh vegetables from the garden areas around Amsterdam. In 1895, the market moved to Marnixstraat and again forty years later to Jan van Galenstraat.

The Westerkerk was built in Renaissance style between 1620 and 1631 to designs by master builder Hendrick de Keyser (1565-1621). He is buried in the Zuiderkerk. The Westerkerk was completed under the direction of his son Pieter de Keyser (1595-1676) and inaugurated on 8 June 1631. The church has a length of 58 metres and a width of 29 metres. The tall nave is flanked by both lower aisles. The three-nave basilica has a rectangular ground plan with two transepts of equal dimensions. This gave the floor plan the shape of two interlinked Greek crosses.