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Amsterdam is the capital of The Netherlands and a unique experience with the its many canals and sights within walking distance in the cozy city center. The city is best experienced from the almost endless number of canals that intersect the city. The more than a thousand bridges and countless houseboats make the atmosphere something special during the tour.
Amsterdam is a beautiful city where you are never far away from the next sight in the very well-preserved city center, which was not least created by an economy that through centuries boomed from maritime trade with the whole world.
The Netherlands is famous for its old masters in art, and it is clearly seen in the capital of Amsterdam’s museums, which exhibit one series of masterpieces after another. And the beauty of the eye is also found on the countless flowers in the countryside. You also find them in Amsterdam, which has an impressive flower market.
Amsterdam is a relatively small city, and there is a lot to see and do in the surrounding area, which offers castles, maritime experiences, porcelain production and much more. All easily accessible with trains and other means of transportation.
The Rijksmuseum is probably the most famous museum in Amsterdam, and the large exhibition building contains over 200 rooms. The collection consists of more than 5,000 paintings and many hundreds of thousands of drawings. Like the city’s railway station, the Rijksmuseum from 1876-1885 is completely castle-like in its architectural style and features features from both the Gothic and the Renaissance. It is also the same architect, Petrus Josephus Hubertus Cuypers, who is behind both constructions.
The museum was founded as early as 1800 in the city of The Hague, where it was supposed to exhibit effects from the collections of Dutch statesmen. At that time the place was called the National Art Gallery/ National Art Gallery. In 1808, the museum was moved to Amsterdam on instructions from Napoleon’s brother Ludvig, who was then king of the Dutch.
The collection has been exhibited in several different places before it came to the current museum building. Among other things, Louis Bonaparte had the collection on one floor of the city’s royal palace on Dam square in the central city.
Perhaps the Rijksmuseum’s best-known work is Rembrandt van Rijn’s Night Watch, De Nachtwacht, which is a gathering point for many visitors who like to discuss the painting. Here are also works by many other Dutch painters in a special class. The collection represents not least the 15th-17th centuries; including works by Frans Hals. The collection also contains more than painting, and for example examples of the beautiful porcelain from the city of Delft are shown.
The world-famous Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn lived in this house in the period 1639-1658. It was thus here that he carried out many of his great works.
The beautiful house was built in 1606-1607, and in 1906 it was bought for preservation by the city of Amsterdam. The following year, it was handed over to a foundation that set in motion a re-creation of the artist’s environment; among other things with the help of art historians and inventory lists from Rembrandt’s sale of the house.
In addition to the interior of the house, the museum also shows an exhibition about Rembrandt’s life as well as around 300 of his etchings and other works.
A trip to Amsterdam is not complete without a canal cruise, from which you can see the city from the right angle. The city’s attractions, houseboats, flower market and wonderful atmosphere are served at water level, and it is also a chance to take a closer look at the many canals that are characteristic of both Amsterdam and large parts of the rest of the Netherlands.
There are canal cruises from several places in the city, including from Damrak south of the main station and from Rokin a little further south. There are several different tours and tour lengths to choose from, and the classic tour of the canals in the center is a good and safe choice.
The Hermitage in Amsterdam is, as the name suggests, part of perhaps the world’s finest art museum; The State Hermitage in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Here at the branch in Amsterdam, changing exhibitions are shown from the huge collection found in Russia. The museum building is the so-called Amstelhof, which was built in 1681 and is beautifully situated on the Amstel River.
Amsterdam and the Netherlands are famous for their many flowers, and this applies not least to the beautiful tulips. The city’s flower market was established in 1862, and here you can enjoy the sight of the many different flowers or buy some to take home. The market is located along a stretch of the Singel canal, and traditionally the many flowers were shipped in here.
The Stedelijk Museum belongs to the world’s leading museums in the field of modern art after 1945. From this time, there are countless forms of artistic expression such as paintings, sculptures and installations, and works by Asger Jorn and the rest of the Cobra group are exhibited, among other things. The museum also contains a particularly fine collection of works by several famous artists such as Picasso, Monet, Matisse and Cezanne.
The Van Gogh Museum naturally displays works by the artist van Gogh, but also by other contemporary artists such as Gauguin and Toulouse-Lautrec. It is all presented in the exciting exhibition building, whose main building was opened in 1973.
The museum houses the world’s largest van Gogh collection with more than 200 paintings and many other effects. The exhibition is structured so that you follow van Gogh’s different phases in his life chronologically, and among the highlights is one of the painter’s famous sunflower paintings.
The current Dutch royal palace was built in the years 1648-1665 as the city’s town hall. It was a time when Amsterdam’s importance in the world was on the rise, and the building had to be a big and powerful symbol of this.
The town hall was converted into a royal palace in 1808 by Louis Bonaparte, Napoleon’s brother, when he had been appointed king of the Netherlands. Today, the royal family uses the castle on official occasions. You can visit the castle and see a number of halls, and especially the large and lavishly decorated Borgersal/Burgerzaal is worth the trip. However, the other rooms are also interesting, and the same applies to the castle’s exhibition of furniture from the Empire period.
Dam is a square which is the center of Amsterdam and the place of the city’s foundation and name. Originally, the Amstel River entered here at this very spot and continued north, where it flowed into Het Ij. Around the year 1270, a dam was built to avoid flooding, and Dam Square was created with it.
Before the water was finally diverted from Dam to the north, many ships docked, and Dam was thus a central trading post. This happened not least through the 1500s and 1600s.
There are several buildings worth seeing around the square, and on the eastern part of the square you can see a 22 meter high obelisk. It was erected in 1956 and is called the Nationaal Monument. The obelisk is the country’s national monument to Holland’s fallen during World War II.
Amsterdam’s New Church was built in the 15th century following the permission of the bishop of Utrecht in 1408. The permission was given because the Old Church/Oude Kerk had gradually become too small to accommodate the city’s citizens.
The Nieuwe Kerk has been destroyed several times in history. In 1421 and 1452 parts of the building burned, and in 1645 the church almost completely went up in smoke. For the subsequent reconstruction, the current Gothic style was chosen. Today, the large church room is used for various exhibition purposes.
The Nieuwe Kerk is also used as the Netherlands’ coronation church, which was the case for Queen Beatrix in 1980 and King Willem-Alexander in 2013. Other royal ceremonies are also held here; e.g. Crown Prince Willem-Alexander’s wedding in 2002.
Several Dutch naval heroes have been buried in the church over time. One of them is Admiral Michiel de Ruyter, who had several victories at home in naval battles against England in the 17th century.
Amsterdam is known for being home to Red Light Districts, which are neighborhoods with legal and highly visible prostitution. De Wallen is the most famous of these areas, and in several streets east of the Oude Kerk you can see large windows where prostitutes offer various services.
In the Netherlands, street prostitution is prohibited, but other prostitution is allowed. Therefore, the prostitutes can rent chambers with windows from which they can work. In 2013, the minimum age for prostitutes was raised to 21, and the work requires a regular work permit, which primarily makes this work possible for Dutch and other EU citizens.
Prostitution is open and many will find a visit in the evening most interesting, but the neighborhood of Old Amsterdam is beautiful in itself and worth a trip during the day as well. Below the Oude Kerk you can see the Belle statue, which has been erected with the message to respect sex workers all over the world.
Amsterdam’s impressive central railway station in ornate neo-gothic style was built 1881-1889 in the imposing railway architecture of the day. It was designed by the architect Petrus Josephus Hubertus Cuypers, who is also behind the Rijksmuseum. The intention was that the two buildings should form two large city gates at each geographical end of the city.
The station was built on embanked land and the location was hotly debated as it cut off Amsterdam from the waters of Het Ij. With the railway station and not least the railway tracks, central Amsterdam’s direct status as a port city ended.
This is Amsterdam’s former stock exchange building. It was inaugurated in 1903 and named after the architect Hendrik Berlage, who came to form a school with his construction. In the beginning, the building was strongly criticized, but it is now considered one of the most important architectural works in the Netherlands from the beginning of the 20th century.
In 1987, the stock exchange institution itself moved to the new stock exchange building, located opposite the Beurs van Berlage on the Beursplein square.
Today, the building houses the Dutch Philharmonic Orchestra, the Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest. There is also a stock exchange museum, Beurs van Berlage Museum (Damrak 277), where you can see more about the building. From here there is also access to the tower, from which there is a fine view of the center of Amsterdam.
The Oude Kerk is Amsterdam’s oldest church. It was mainly built in the 13th century and consecrated by the Bishop of Utrecht in 1306. However, it was not long before the first of a series of extensions was started towards the result that can be seen today.
Inside, the Oude Kerk contains Europe’s largest vaulted wooden ceiling from the Middle Ages. The planks come from Estonia and have been dated to the year 1390. In the church floor, there are bricks everywhere, which is partly due to the fact that the church was built on a burial ground. In addition, burials were held in the church room until 1865. You can also see the three original windows with stained glass.
One of the Oude Kerk’s regular churchgoers was the artist Rembrandt van Rijn, whose children were baptized here. Rembrandt’s wife, Saskia van Uylenburgh, is also buried here.
The bridge Magere Brug is a beautiful example of the city’s old bridges over the many canals. The White Bridge originally dates from 1671, but was rebuilt in 1929 and its tilting device that allows ships to pass is still operated by hand.
Magere Brug is perhaps the city’s best-known bridge, and you can experience it on foot or on a canal cruise. In the area, there are also other buildings worth seeing by the canals.
To the north from Magere Brug you can see the Blue Bridge/Blauw Brug, which was built for the city’s big international exhibition in 1883. To the south you can see the old wooden locks, which were built in the 17th century to regulate the renewal of the water in the city’s many canals.
Tropenmuseum is a magnificent ethnographic museum that exhibits works and collections from large parts of the world such as North Africa, South America and Southeast Asia. Part of the collection was created with a background in Dutch colonial history, but many other places and cultures are also represented in the museum.
The museum was founded as an institution in 1864 as the Colonial Museum/Koloniaal Museum, which opened to the public in Haarlem in 1871. In 1926, the current museum building was built and the museum moved here. The opening was made at a ceremony attended by the then monarch; Queen Wilhelmina.
This is Amsterdam’s city museum, and here the history of the city from its foundation in the 13th century to the present day is depicted in a vivid and thorough manner. The museum building itself is a former monastery that has been used for various purposes before it became the current museum in 1975. The museum is the place for those interested in the many aspects of Amsterdam’s facilities and history; e.g. trade, religion and the city’s many canals.
The Begijnhof square is a real oasis in the middle of Amsterdam. The square is actually a farm environment that originally functioned as a novice monastery. The Beguines were women who had dedicated their lives to God, but who were not nuns.
The farm dates from the 14th century, and it has retained the medieval street level of the city, which is today a little below modern Amsterdam. From the start, the Begijnhof was completely surrounded by water, and there was only access via the Begijnensteeg. The entrance from the Spui square is from the 1800s.
Many of the characteristic Amsterdam houses around the Begijnhof have retained the original wooden skeletons in the construction, while the facades are mainly from the 1600s-1700s. They are among the finest examples of an urban environment from this time.
The beautiful and cozy farm is also the place where Amsterdam’s and the Netherlands’ oldest preserved wooden house is located. It is called Houten Huys, has number 34 and dates from around 1425. Houten Huys is just one of two preserved wooden houses in the Dutch metropolis. Today, the houses are inhabited by ordinary people, as the last beguine died in 1971; it was Sister Antonia.
The Anne Frank House is a museum that is known from Anne Frank’s Diary, which is a self-narrative by the Jewish girl Anne Frank. She described her life in Nazi Amsterdam in the period 1942-1944.
The Frank family hid in the museum’s back building behind a commercial establishment for two years before they were discovered and removed from the building. The house has been carefully preserved in its condition from the time of the diary and stands as a museum for that time and Anne Frank’s last years of life.
The maritime trade has greatly influenced the history of the Netherlands, and therefore the maritime museum in Amsterdam is an exciting place to experience many aspects of the maritime theme. At the museum there are countless effects to experience, and among the larger ones is the ship Amsterdam, which is a replica of a trading ship from the 18th century traffic between the Netherlands and the East Indies.
The museum building is also interesting. The large construction was built in the years 1655-1656 as the arsenal ´s Lands Zeemagazijn and designed by Daniël Stalpaert. The site was set up as a maritime museum in 1973.
The open-air museum Zaanse Schans exhibits houses and typical Dutch mills from the 18th and 19th centuries. In the beautiful and rural area, there are also a number of working workshops where traditionally manufactured goods can be bought. Among other things, it concerns an oyster farm, and you can also see the site’s watch museum.
The museum was established in the period 1961-1974, when a number of historic buildings were transported here from the Zaanstreek area. Since the time of the original buildings, several new ones have been added.
The Muiderslot water castle is located on the Vecht river at the point where it flows into the Zuidersee water area. It is one of Holland’s most visited castles, and it also exudes a medieval atmosphere with a moat and defense towers.
The castle was built in 1280 by Count Floris V, and the site by the Vecht river was strategically located on the trade route to Utrecht, and from the castle taxes could be collected from the traders.
The castle changed owners over time, and after being, among other things, a prison, it was offered for sale in 1825 with a view to demolition. Royal intervention prevented it, and later it was thoroughly restored instead.
Today, the castle is an exciting museum, where you can mainly experience a 17th-century environment within the walls, where furnishings, weapons and armor are displayed. The castle park and flower garden are also worth a visit in season.
In the middle of the vast Dutch flower fields lies Keukenhof, which means kitchen garden. However, the place is not a vegetable garden, but rather a lavish flower park, where millions of flowers spring up every year. Tulips in countless hybrids unfold a unique beauty during the flowering season, which will usually be at its peak in the month of April.
The idea for Keukenhof came from the mayor of the city of Lisse in 1949, and the place was to be the center for the development of flowers that could maintain the Netherlands as the world’s largest flower exporter. All tourists can now enjoy that idea every year in the spring months.
The Hague is a city known as the seat of the government of the Netherlands and as the residence of the regent. The city’s history goes back to Count Floris IV and his son, Willem II, who established and expanded their residence in the city. A village soon arose around the residence, and it was mentioned as Die Haghe in 1242. From 1358, The Hague became the primary residence of the counts of Holland, and therefore many government institutions were established in the city.
In the 16th century, Spanish troops invaded the city, which in 1588 became the seat of the assembly in the Netherlands. The Hague only gained city status in 1806, when Louis Bonaparte granted the city these privileges. After the division of the Netherlands into Holland and Belgium, Amsterdam remained the capital and The Hague the city of government. Since then, the city has grown significantly, and from 1945 the city was also known for housing the International Court of Justice.
Scheveningen is The Hague’s and the Netherlands’ most popular seaside resort. The long bathing beach is lovely, and in the center of it is the impressive spa resort Kurhaus from 1885. From the beach goes the long pier, from which you can enjoy a beautiful view from the lookout tower 400 meters out.
By the sea in Scheveningen is also the Sea Life Center, a large aquarium with many fascinating animals and a closer look at the local and international maritime environment.
The city of Delft is known for its porcelain production, but it is also the hometown of the Oranje family and a very idyllic old town with cozy canal surroundings. A stroll in the center is an attraction in itself, and you can of course visit the Royal Delft Museum, which depicts the history of the city’s porcelain factory, which was founded in 1653.
In Delft you can see, among other things, the New Church/Nieuwe Kerk, which was built from 1381 in the Gothic style. Over the centuries it has been the burial church of the royal family, and the country’s founder Wilhelm of Orange is buried here, among other things. You can climb the tower of the Nieuwe Kerk, and from here there is a nice view of the city.
Opposite the Nieuwe Kerk in the Markt square is Delft’s beautiful town hall, the Stadhuis, which was built in 1620. It was built as a replacement for the previous one, which had burned down two years earlier. In the city you can also see The Old Church/Oude Kerk, which was built in 1246. With the church’s 75 meter high tower, it is a beautiful building that lies between the city’s canals.
Rotterdam is the second largest city in the Netherlands, and it is known for several things; not least for a glorious maritime history and Europe’s largest port. The area has been developed from the city center and all the way to the mouth of the Nieuwe Maas in the North Sea west of the city.
The maritime experiences make their mark on the city, which offers many lovely places along the water and around old port facilities. In addition, there are some excellent maritime museums and of course the opportunity to take a cruise on the harbor with one of the city’s many cruise boats.
Dam 1
bijenkorf.nl
Kalverstraat
kalvertoren.nl
Nieuwezijds Voorbugwal
magnaplaza.nl
Rokin 140-142
debonneterie.nl
Kaizergracht 455
metzenco.nl
Dam 20
peek-cloppenburg.nl
Kalver Straat 203
vd.nl
Damrak, Rokin, Nieuwedijk, Kalverstraat, Utrechtsestraat, Hofftstraat, Beethovenstraat, Pieter Cornelisz Hooftstraat
Artis Zoo
Plantage Kerklaan 38-40
artis.nl
NEMO Science Museum
Oosterdok 2
e-nemo.nl
Electrische Museumtramlijn Amsterdam
Amstelveenseweg 264, Harlemmermeer Station
museumtram.nl
Sea Life Center
Scheveningen
sealifeeurope.com
Madurodam
George Maduroplein 1, Den Haag
madurodam.nl
In the 12th century, fishermen lived along the river Amstel, and they built a crossing at IJ. It was the beginning of Amsterdam’s history around the beginning of the 13th century. Early locks and dams were used to control the water level in the IJ so that the settlement could develop in water security.
The settlement grew rapidly, due to its favorable position on the trade routes between East and West of Northern Europe. The mouth of the Amstel River at present Damrak formed a natural harbor where merchant ships created and created an economic center.
Amsterdam was first mentioned as Aemstelredamme in a document from 27 October 1275. This gives Count Floris V of Holland tax exemption for traders, fishermen and sailors from Amsterdam, and could therefore move tax on the Dutch channels; they do not have to pay fees for eg locks and dams. It distanced the city from the other commercial towns in the area.
Amsterdam was politically under the founding of Utrecht, and from there Bishop Gwijde van Henegouwen granted the city commercial property rights in 1306, which further strengthened the city’s position in the Dutch area. In 1342 Count William IV granted Amsterdam more privileges so that the trade could continue to flourish.
In Amsterdam in 1345, an event took place, officially designated as a miracle by the Roman Catholic Church. This led to a number of pilgrims in the city, which also brought trade and economy in this way; it came in the form of tourism of the time, which pilgrimage in its way constituted.
In the first half of the 1300s, trade with the Hanseatic cities along the southern Baltic coast was increasingly traded. It happened, among other things, with beer from Hamburg and also with cereals and timber. It was a trade that developed through the 1300s and 1400s. Over time, the Hanseatic League developed geographically outside the Baltic and Amsterdam joined in 1368. It created a merchant stand that also gained political power through an ever-increasing influence on the leading Catholic priests.
In the 14th century, Amsterdam was hit by major fires twice. It happened in 1421 and again in 1452. After the last of the fires, most of the city lay in ruins, and the emperor ordered Amsterdam to be rebuilt in stone houses instead of wood, which was the most common material before the fires.
As Amsterdam grew, political consciousness grew and it resulted in an increased national consciousness. In spite of this, the region and thus Amsterdam came under Spanish rule in 1519, and up through the 16th century opposition to the Spanish dominion increased over the area.
In 1543 Amsterdam, together with the rest of the Netherlands, entered into a political union for the unification of the Netherlands; though still under Spanish leadership. In the Union became the capital of Brussels.
In 1578 the Protestant Calvinists took over the city from Spanish King Felipe II, and the following year Holland became independent. The country consisted beyond Amsterdam of some provinces in the region. William of Orange, who is the ancestor of today’s Dutch royal family, became the leader of the country, leading the Dutch rebellion that led to the Four Years War that took place in 1568-1648.
The 16th century was a time after many religious wars in Europe, and the Netherlands declared religious freedom, which led to a large influx of wealthy traders. It created further growth in the trade that characterized the bustling city.
In 1585, Antwerp, the dominant maritime and commercial city in the region, was conquered by the Spaniards. It restricted the city’s ability to develop maritime traffic, which was directed partly through Spain. The fall of Antwerp was a major contributor to the 16th century becoming Amsterdam’s heyday. Ships to the ever-growing empire in Africa, Brazil and Indonesia led to even more growth in trade and economy. The central canals were built in Amsterdam from 1609, and cultural life also developed. This was the time when, for example, Rembrandt painted.
The fishing was also good in Amsterdam because of its location in the North Sea, and the city was a transition absolutely leading maritime city in the area. In 1648, the year ended 80 years of strife, the result was complete Dutch independence from Spain and also the German-Roman Empire, which the Netherlands had undergone in personnel union with the Spanish Habsburgs.
In the 1660s, Amsterdam had 200,000 inhabitants and was the economic locomotive of the Dutch state. The governors invested significantly in channels such as infrastructure, hospitals, hostels and other things that took advantage of the population’s potential for increased development. There were good times in the city.
Throughout the 1600s and into the 1700s, there were a large number of immigrants in Amsterdam’s commercial life, and this was especially true of Germans, who made a clear mark on trade and other parts of city life.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the importance of Amsterdam and the Netherlands gradually decreased. This was due to increasing pressure from and struggles against not least France and England, each of which became stronger and attracted more by the prolific trade in colonies and trading houses around the world, which Amsterdam had previously lobbied for.
The dominance of the seas was abruptly stopped when French troops under Napoleon occupied the country in 1795. Napoleon’s brother became emperor of the new republic. Amsterdam was blocked from the sea by the English, who quickly assumed the role of the Dutch, which was actually played in Amsterdam in 1814, when the French had to withdraw from the city and the country.
After the Napoleonic wars, a united Dutch state was newly created, but as early as 1831 Belgium declared itself independent and on that occasion Holland became the country we know today.
The 19th century was not least a time of industrial and cultural development. The Amsterdam-Rijn Kanaal and Noordzee Kanaal were built to connect Amsterdam to both the North Sea and the important transport route that the Rhine formed. This created a new commercial boom for the city.
Industrialization also brought a wave of migrants from the country to the city, and Amsterdam’s population grew and changed. Socialism emerged, and not the 1880s became a decade of struggles between authorities and protesters that demanded changing conditions.
In addition to fighting in the streets, there was also a significant cultural boost in the late 1800s. Large museum buildings with the Rijksmuseum at the forefront were completed, and logistically, the Central Station was constructed as a major new asset for the city’s transport.
Another major facility of the time was Stelling van Amsterdam, which was built as a defense ring around the city between 1880 and 1920. The position formed a ring of 42 forts and a large lowland that could easily be flooded in the event of war.
During World War I, Holland was neutral, but the country still felt the war’s rage in the form of food shortages. World War II was different, but the time between the wars also affected the city. Here the dam Afsluitdijk was established, and it became the end of the wetland Zuider Zees connection with the North Sea. As a result, Amsterdam no longer had direct access to the sea.
A big event also brought Amsterdam on the world map for a time. The city had hosted the Olympic Games in both 1920 and 1924, and the third time was the stroke of luck, keeping the games in the Dutch capital in 1928. The games became the first in modern times when the Olympic fire was lit, and it was here, Johnny Weissmuller won two gold medals in swimming.
During World War II, the Netherlands was invaded by German troops on May 10, 1940, despite the country’s neutrality. On May 14, Rotterdam was bombed and the following day the Dutch forces surrendered. More than 100,000 Jews were deported during the war, and virtually the entire Jewish community disappeared in Amsterdam and in other cities.
After the end of World War II, development occurred primarily elsewhere in the country than in Amsterdam. This was not least the case with the continued construction of the Port of Rotterdam and the resulting transport and logistics business in what became Europe’s largest port.
Economically, Amsterdam instead became the hub of Holland’s cultural development, and here the economy grew more in the service industry than in the traditional industry. It provided a new wealth to the otherwise economically disadvantaged city.
Culturally, the 1960s and 1970s were characterized by new trends. Some anarchism and the city became known for its relaxed approach to drugs and for the city’s Red Light District, which continues to attract tourists.
The end of the 20th century was also a time of immigration from both former and continuing Dutch territories around the world and from other countries outside Europe. It has brought social and cultural tensions in Amsterdam, which at the same time established new museums, institutions and other things for the benefit of both locals and visitors.
In 1977 the city’s metro opened, and since then the infrastructure has been further expanded. One of the latest major projects is the expansion with a line connecting Amsterdam to the developed suburbs north of IJ.
The cultural and transport investments have meant that Amsterdam is today a city with many traditions and buildings, while also having a modern and thriving urban life.
Amsterdam, Netherlands[/caption]
Overview of Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the capital of The Netherlands and a unique experience with the its many canals and sights within walking distance in the cozy city center. The city is best experienced from the almost endless number of canals that intersect the city. The more than a thousand bridges and countless houseboats make the atmosphere something special during the tour.
Amsterdam is a beautiful city where you are never far away from the next sight in the very well-preserved city center, which was not least created by an economy that through centuries boomed from maritime trade with the whole world.
The Netherlands is famous for its old masters in art, and it is clearly seen in the capital of Amsterdam’s museums, which exhibit one series of masterpieces after another. And the beauty of the eye is also found on the countless flowers in the countryside. You also find them in Amsterdam, which has an impressive flower market.
About the Whitehorse travel guide
Contents: Tours in the city + tours in the surrounding area
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Author: Stig Albeck
Publisher: Vamados.com
Language: English
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The current Dutch royal palace was built in the years 1648-1665 as the city’s town hall. It was a time when Amsterdam’s importance in the world was on the rise, and the building had to be a big and powerful symbol of this.
The town hall was converted into a royal palace in 1808 by Louis Bonaparte, Napoleon’s brother, when he had been appointed king of the Netherlands. Today, the royal family uses the castle on official occasions. You can visit the castle and see a number of halls, and especially the large and lavishly decorated Borgersal/Burgerzaal is worth the trip. However, the other rooms are also interesting, and the same applies to the castle’s exhibition of furniture from the Empire period.
Dam is a square which is the center of Amsterdam and the place of the city’s foundation and name. Originally, the Amstel River entered here at this very spot and continued north, where it flowed into Het Ij. Around the year 1270, a dam was built to avoid flooding, and Dam Square was created with it.
Before the water was finally diverted from Dam to the north, many ships docked, and Dam was thus a central trading post. This happened not least through the 1500s and 1600s.
There are several buildings worth seeing around the square, and on the eastern part of the square you can see a 22 meter high obelisk. It was erected in 1956 and is called the Nationaal Monument. The obelisk is the country’s national monument to Holland’s fallen during World War II.
Amsterdam’s New Church was built in the 15th century following the permission of the bishop of Utrecht in 1408. The permission was given because the Old Church/Oude Kerk had gradually become too small to accommodate the city’s citizens.
The Nieuwe Kerk has been destroyed several times in history. In 1421 and 1452 parts of the building burned, and in 1645 the church almost completely went up in smoke. For the subsequent reconstruction, the current Gothic style was chosen. Today, the large church room is used for various exhibition purposes.
The Nieuwe Kerk is also used as the Netherlands’ coronation church, which was the case for Queen Beatrix in 1980 and King Willem-Alexander in 2013. Other royal ceremonies are also held here; e.g. Crown Prince Willem-Alexander’s wedding in 2002.
Several Dutch naval heroes have been buried in the church over time. One of them is Admiral Michiel de Ruyter, who had several victories at home in naval battles against England in the 17th century.
Amsterdam is known for being home to Red Light Districts, which are neighborhoods with legal and highly visible prostitution. De Wallen is the most famous of these areas, and in several streets east of the Oude Kerk you can see large windows where prostitutes offer various services.
In the Netherlands, street prostitution is prohibited, but other prostitution is allowed. Therefore, the prostitutes can rent chambers with windows from which they can work. In 2013, the minimum age for prostitutes was raised to 21, and the work requires a regular work permit, which primarily makes this work possible for Dutch and other EU citizens.
Prostitution is open and many will find a visit in the evening most interesting, but the neighborhood of Old Amsterdam is beautiful in itself and worth a trip during the day as well. Below the Oude Kerk you can see the Belle statue, which has been erected with the message to respect sex workers all over the world.
Amsterdam’s impressive central railway station in ornate neo-gothic style was built 1881-1889 in the imposing railway architecture of the day. It was designed by the architect Petrus Josephus Hubertus Cuypers, who is also behind the Rijksmuseum. The intention was that the two buildings should form two large city gates at each geographical end of the city.
The station was built on embanked land and the location was hotly debated as it cut off Amsterdam from the waters of Het Ij. With the railway station and not least the railway tracks, central Amsterdam’s direct status as a port city ended.
This is Amsterdam’s former stock exchange building. It was inaugurated in 1903 and named after the architect Hendrik Berlage, who came to form a school with his construction. In the beginning, the building was strongly criticized, but it is now considered one of the most important architectural works in the Netherlands from the beginning of the 20th century.
In 1987, the stock exchange institution itself moved to the new stock exchange building, located opposite the Beurs van Berlage on the Beursplein square.
Today, the building houses the Dutch Philharmonic Orchestra, the Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest. There is also a stock exchange museum, Beurs van Berlage Museum (Damrak 277), where you can see more about the building. From here there is also access to the tower, from which there is a fine view of the center of Amsterdam.
The Oude Kerk is Amsterdam’s oldest church. It was mainly built in the 13th century and consecrated by the Bishop of Utrecht in 1306. However, it was not long before the first of a series of extensions was started towards the result that can be seen today.
Inside, the Oude Kerk contains Europe’s largest vaulted wooden ceiling from the Middle Ages. The planks come from Estonia and have been dated to the year 1390. In the church floor, there are bricks everywhere, which is partly due to the fact that the church was built on a burial ground. In addition, burials were held in the church room until 1865. You can also see the three original windows with stained glass.
One of the Oude Kerk’s regular churchgoers was the artist Rembrandt van Rijn, whose children were baptized here. Rembrandt’s wife, Saskia van Uylenburgh, is also buried here.
The bridge Magere Brug is a beautiful example of the city’s old bridges over the many canals. The White Bridge originally dates from 1671, but was rebuilt in 1929 and its tilting device that allows ships to pass is still operated by hand.
Magere Brug is perhaps the city’s best-known bridge, and you can experience it on foot or on a canal cruise. In the area, there are also other buildings worth seeing by the canals.
To the north from Magere Brug you can see the Blue Bridge/Blauw Brug, which was built for the city’s big international exhibition in 1883. To the south you can see the old wooden locks, which were built in the 17th century to regulate the renewal of the water in the city’s many canals.
Tropenmuseum is a magnificent ethnographic museum that exhibits works and collections from large parts of the world such as North Africa, South America and Southeast Asia. Part of the collection was created with a background in Dutch colonial history, but many other places and cultures are also represented in the museum.
The museum was founded as an institution in 1864 as the Colonial Museum/Koloniaal Museum, which opened to the public in Haarlem in 1871. In 1926, the current museum building was built and the museum moved here. The opening was made at a ceremony attended by the then monarch; Queen Wilhelmina.
This is Amsterdam’s city museum, and here the history of the city from its foundation in the 13th century to the present day is depicted in a vivid and thorough manner. The museum building itself is a former monastery that has been used for various purposes before it became the current museum in 1975. The museum is the place for those interested in the many aspects of Amsterdam’s facilities and history; e.g. trade, religion and the city’s many canals.
The Begijnhof square is a real oasis in the middle of Amsterdam. The square is actually a farm environment that originally functioned as a novice monastery. The Beguines were women who had dedicated their lives to God, but who were not nuns.
The farm dates from the 14th century, and it has retained the medieval street level of the city, which is today a little below modern Amsterdam. From the start, the Begijnhof was completely surrounded by water, and there was only access via the Begijnensteeg. The entrance from the Spui square is from the 1800s.
Many of the characteristic Amsterdam houses around the Begijnhof have retained the original wooden skeletons in the construction, while the facades are mainly from the 1600s-1700s. They are among the finest examples of an urban environment from this time.
The beautiful and cozy farm is also the place where Amsterdam’s and the Netherlands’ oldest preserved wooden house is located. It is called Houten Huys, has number 34 and dates from around 1425. Houten Huys is just one of two preserved wooden houses in the Dutch metropolis. Today, the houses are inhabited by ordinary people, as the last beguine died in 1971; it was Sister Antonia.
The Anne Frank House is a museum that is known from Anne Frank’s Diary, which is a self-narrative by the Jewish girl Anne Frank. She described her life in Nazi Amsterdam in the period 1942-1944.
The Frank family hid in the museum’s back building behind a commercial establishment for two years before they were discovered and removed from the building. The house has been carefully preserved in its condition from the time of the diary and stands as a museum for that time and Anne Frank’s last years of life.
The maritime trade has greatly influenced the history of the Netherlands, and therefore the maritime museum in Amsterdam is an exciting place to experience many aspects of the maritime theme. At the museum there are countless effects to experience, and among the larger ones is the ship Amsterdam, which is a replica of a trading ship from the 18th century traffic between the Netherlands and the East Indies.
The museum building is also interesting. The large construction was built in the years 1655-1656 as the arsenal ´s Lands Zeemagazijn and designed by Daniël Stalpaert. The site was set up as a maritime museum in 1973.
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