Maurice, Prince of Orange
In 1536, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, visited The Hague. He decided that the front gardens of all the buildings should be joined together to create a broad avenue. He also ordered that four rows of lime trees be planted, giving it its stately aesthetic. In 1597, stadtholder Maurice, Prince of Orange, proposed to construct a canal along the street. After the Reformation, the Catholic minster was made into a cannon foundry, and a canal could have helped the transport of the heavy cannons. Although a canal was dug along the nearby Mauritskade, a connecting canal along the Lange Voorhout was never constructed, likely due to the high sand bank on which the street was located. In the Golden Age, the very rich settled in palace-like residences on the Lange Voorhout.