Or, Gable Stones
While reading a book set in Amsterdam, I caught a passing mention of stone markers on the houses of the Herengracht canal. This stood out because that is the canal we live on and I didn’t remember seeing any markers. My next trek out, the search was on for what I now know are Gable Stones, or in Dutch, Gavelstenen.
Since that first mention a week ago, I have learned a lot more about the Gable Stones https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/amsterdam-gable-stones To begin with, they can be found on many houses, not just the ones on our street. (There are an estimated 650 stones in the city) Most are hundreds of years old, though some homeowners now create them to commemorate significant moments in their house such as remodeling or marriages. The style varies greatly too, from fairly plain to elaborate and colorful designs.
This morning, I stopped on a market street (Haarlemmerstraat) to take the pictures below:
While I was stopped, a lovely Dutch woman offered: “They’re beautiful, aren’t they?” She understood quickly that I was looking at the gable stones. She knew the history of the stones explaining to me how previous to the invasion of the French in the early 1800’s, gable stones were the house and business location identifiers. The French brought the house numbering system that we know and use today.
This may be an obsession. Looking for the stones whenever either one of us is out and about. You have to look up; most stones are placed about 4 meters high. We don’t know yet what many of them mean – Google Translate does not appear to work on Old Dutch, and the picture itself may not be a direct representation, but we look forward to finding more gevelstenen and learning more of the history they may hold. https://web.archive.org/web/20151222171205/http://www.livius.org/dutchhistory/amsterdam/amsterdam_gevelstenen1.html
Very interesting. I am glad you have found a new fun thing to add to your exploration of your new home city.