09/10/2026
What’s hiding beneath Amsterdam? 🔨 👀
Amsterdam is built on millions of wooden piles. But how did they get there?
Amsterdam was built on soft, marshy ground, making it difficult to construct stable buildings. The solution? Driving long wooden piles deep into the ground until they reached a firm layer of sand, providing a stable foundation for the houses above.
And here’s something you might not know: centuries ago, it took around 30 workers to hoist a 400-kilo pile-driving hammer using ropes, before releasing it to drive a wooden pile into the ground. All powered by human muscle!
Even today, the wooden foundations beneath many historic buildings need to remain underwater. If groundwater levels drop too far, the wood can rot, causing buildings to sink or tilt. This is one of the reasons why some of Amsterdam’s historic houses lean.
At Miniatuur Museum Amsterdam, you can see how the city was built, both above and below ground.
