Golden Bend

The Gouden Bocht is the most prestigious part of the Herengracht in Amsterdam, Netherlands, between Leidsestraat and Vijzelstraat.

Until 1663 the Herengracht reached as far as the present Leidsegracht. From that year on, the fortifications around Amsterdam were expanded, within the Herengracht, the Keizersgracht and the Prinsengracht which were expanded. The digging ended at the river Amstel within a few years. The buyers on the Herengracht were encouraged to buy two lots and built double-wide mansions, and because the three canals here were laid out a little further from each other, and the lots were also deeper. On these large lots, the well-to-do placed their city-palaces with classicist facades, stuccoed ceilings, and fine gardens, once a year open to the public. In the curve, by the Nieuwe Spiegelstraat, lived Amsterdam's richest citizens, and so this part of the belt of canals was named the "Golden Bend" in recent history.