This area is the oldest in town (de Oudezijds). It was built before the Golden Age (17th century) and the famous Canal Belt. The church standing in the middle has something peculiar about it. It is the oldest building in the city, so it seems …
Nowadays you can buy a bag of flower bulbs at Flower Market near Mint Square for a few euros and grow the most beautiful tulips at home. But that has not always been the case. In the 17th century, a few years after the introduction …
“In Amsterdam people are the happiest in the world, They all live in beautiful palaces on the canals,” I once heard a tourist say, “Can you imagine going to your work every day by bike, and having a boat on the water to enjoy whenever you want to? Aren’t they lucky!” Well, do …
Museum Square and Oud-Zuid (the Old South) are a magnificent centre of culture… and children’s activities. The houses here are not as old as those on the Canal Ring and Oudezijds, but are equally beautiful. The original city centre was built in the 16th and 17th century but these other parts of …
This park, which runs from the centre to the ring road between Zuid (The South) and West, can rightly be called the garden of Amsterdam. It’s not only very popular among Amsterdammers, as a place to walk, have a picnic, ride their bike or go for a healthy run, and tourists, it is also …
Of all the merchants in the 17th century, one was the richest. Where most of them owned one ship with which to import valuable goods, this man had ten. With the wealth he earned, the merchant had beautiful paintings and statues made in his image and bought the most expensive furniture made of …
According to Hannah Amsterdam’s Grachtengordel (or Canal Belt, the semicircular ring of canals in the centre of Amsterdam) is the 8th wonder of the world: It’s incredibly beautiful and very well constructed, with locks and dams controlling the water level and keeping the canals clean. And most of the houses on Singel, Herengracht (Gentleman’s Canal), …
Walking down Damrak to Dam Square, is like going back in time. For centuries, merchants from all over the world entered the city this way: Amsterdam has been a trading city since the 17th century, a place where goods from every corner on the globe were offered and sold. Imagine that you …
It’s always busy at Amsterdam Central Station! There are groups of travellers dragging suitcases, commuters carrying take-away coffee, students touring Europe, businessmen heading for the airport, different sizes, ages, colours and language speakers… In all the hustle and bustle, you might not notice how beautiful the terminal actually is: a palace with long, beautiful corridors leading to …
