Atlas

Watch out! If Atlas ever drops the heavens, Amsterdam too will fall. Generations of Amsterdammers warned their children of this calamity. The mighty Atlas must forever carry the sky upon his shoulders as a punishment of the gods. Here in the Town Hall, nowadays Royal Palace, he illustrates how Amsterdammers saw themselves as the centre of the universe. Atlas measures about 6 metres from top to toe! Another version of this statue also stands outside, although that one is cast in bronze.