Het Scheepvaartmuseum, Amsterdam

Het Scheepvaartmuseum is the maritime museum in this substantial historic building, devoted to the story of shipping and seafaring. The building began life as a naval storehouse, designed by architect Daniël Stalpaert and completed in 1656. Its original supplies included cannons, sails, flags and equipment for warships; rainwater collected beneath the courtyard helped provide drinking water for vessels.

The museum’s collections bring that world indoors through paintings, ship models, weapons and maps. Among the mapmakers represented are Willem Blaeu and his son Joan. The paintings include Dutch naval commanders such as Michiel de Ruyter and scenes of sea battles.

A particularly rare treasure is a surviving copy of De Moluccis Insulis, the work describing Ferdinand Magellan’s voyage around the world. At the waterside, the Amsterdam replica gives the museum a full-scale link to maritime life. It represents an eighteenth-century ship that sailed between the Netherlands and the East Indies, and it was built from 1985 to 1990.

Another vessel at the quay is the Christiaan Brunings, an authentic steamship built in 1900 as an icebreaker and waterways service vessel. The museum began in 1916 and moved into this former storehouse in 1973. After a major renovation from 2007 to 2011, the courtyard gained its glass roof, bringing daylight into the heart of the old maritime magazine.