Postcard from Amsterdam

Last week, the Unesco added 21 new sites to its world heritage list. One of those sites was the seventeenth-century canal ring Area inside the Singelgracht, in Amsterdam. The Unesco describes the area as follows:

The historic urban ensemble of the canal district of Amsterdam was a project for a new 'port city' built at the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries. It comprises a network of canals to the west and south of the historic old town and the medieval port that encircled the old town and was accompanied by the repositioning inland of the city's fortified boundaries, the Singelgracht. This was a long-term programme that involved extending the city by draining the swampland, using a system of canals in concentric arcs and filling in the intermediate spaces. These spaces allowed the development of a homogeneous urban ensemble including gabled houses and numerous monuments. This urban extension was the largest and most homogeneous of its time. It was a model of large-scale town planning, and served as a reference throughout the world until the 19th century. [link]

One of the canals encircling the old town is the Keizersgracht (litt. Emperor's Canal) in Amsterdam. The postcard shows this canal.

Though there is an address on the back of the card, there is no stamp or date mark, and the card was probably never sent. The card is probably from the first decade of the 20th century.