One of the ultimate places to mutter 'if only my family had bought that property way back then', the Golden Bend is about the most prestigious stretch of real estate in Amsterdam, a monument to the Golden Age, when precious goods swelled in cellars of homes already stuffed with valuables. The richest Amsterdammers lived and ruled their affairs from here.
Apart from the Kattenkabinet museum, the homes are only open on Open Monument Day (Open Monumentendag; second weekend in September).
The earliest mansions date from the 1660s, when the Canal Ring was expanded south. Thanks to some lobbying at city hall, the gables here were twice as wide as the standard Amsterdam model, and the rear gardens were deeper.
