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Brother of Napoleon I, Louis (1778–1846) was King of the Netherlands between 1806 and 1810.

This type of Renaissance decoration depicts a human or animal face, and can be seen atOudezijds Voorburgwal 57.

The great attraction of this ponderous late-19th-century building (apart, of course, from the five floors of luxury goods on sale) is its sixth-floor cupola and café, with superb views of the canal ring below. Originally built for an insurance company in 1891, it was taken over by Metz & Co in 1908. Gerrit Rietveld added his splendid glass cupola in 1933. In 1973, Liberty of London bought the business, renovated the building and commissioned Cees Dam to design the sixth-floor café.

This revered Dutch admiral (1607–76) set fire to the English fleet in the Medway in 1667.

The radical Provo movement took off in the 1960s, fuelled by antagonism to the city’s transport and housing policies. Street demonstrations turned into fullscale rioting on 10 March 1966, the day of Princess Beatrix’s wedding to German aristocrat Claus von Amsberg. The Provos won seats on the city council, but their popularity was short-lived.

Here, the nickname comes from two gablestones depicting Moses and Aäron on the house fronts that hid a clandestine church within. It was replaced in 1841 by the present Neo-Classical building, its towers inspired by St Sulpice in Paris.

Pen name of Eduard Douwes Dekker (1820–87), whose work in colonial Java inspired his best-known novelMax Havelaar .

This canal house turned museum, with its sober decoration and delightful secret Catholic church, plunges the visitor back into the Golden Age (see Museum Amstelkring).

A chance to see inside a private canal house, whose grand yet approachable 18thcentury interior recreates a bygone age (see Museum Van Loon).