Aerial Photos
Aerial Photos
These 2 photos of Amsterdam give you a quick overview of the structure of the city, which helps with orientation once there. The construction of the city of Amsterdam started in the 13th century with the construction of a dam in the river Amstel where it flooded into the IJ, an inlet of the former Zuiderzee (Southern Sea). Over time, digging new canals around the centre extended the city. This process gave the current centre its half circled shape. The major canals all start and end in the IJ.
Remarkable Buildings
Architecture Photos
The architecture in Amsterdam is predominantly 17th century. The affluence of that period and the invention of pile foundations allowed for a drastic renewal of the city with brick as the main building material. Before, most brick buildings would fall over, and wooden houses caused enormous fires because of the cities’ dense population. Amsterdam’s typical canals and warehouses still shows who ruled the city in the 17th century: practical business people that needed storage and transportation for their goods. They had no need to express political or military power, so no need for wide alleys, pompous buildings, and the like. Except for churches, the only big building of that period was City Hall, later converted into Royal Palace. Only during Amsterdam’s second period of affluence, in the late 19th century, the needs of the “new rich” instigated the construction of larger buildings such as museums and concert halls. This gallery shows you Amsterdam's history in short through it's most remarkable buildings.
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City Center
City Center Photos
Unless you happen to stay in a hotel outside of the city centre, this is probably the only part of Amsterdam you get to see as a tourist - together with the Museumplein, the square where most major Museums are located (plein means square). Sure, in summer, when a large part of the Amsterdammers are on summer holiday, it almost feels like an open-air museum because of the predominance of tourists. But it's still worth all the effort getting there, as this random collection of photos shows.
Harbor Area
Harbor Area Photos
As with many European harbor cities, the older parts of the port became obsolete when sea ships outgrew them. The former docks were recently transformed to nice residential areas and more apartments and office buildings are being built along the Southern IJ-river Boulevard. Now only cruise ships come as far as the city centre. The Passenger Terminal Amsterdam, where their passengers board and unboard, lies close to the Centraal Station. Since the development of this area started in the 1990s, The Netherlands have been economically strong, which shows in the architecture.
Churches
Church Photos
Because of its visual presence and openness towards phenomenas such as Prostitution and Homosexuality, some people like to paint Amsterdam as a modern version of Sodom and Gomorrah. Reality is far from it. Religion has played an important role in the history of the city, and is deeply rooted in Dutch habits and culture. In Amsterdam churches are still an important part of the landscape.
Vondelpark
Vondelpark Photos
Although famous worldwide, Amsterdam is a relatively small city, and quiet also. Traffic is light because of narrow streets, good public transport and tough parking laws. The bicycle is the vehicle of choice. Cars and trucks are relatively new and therefore relatively quiet. The houses are small, though, and the population is dense, so the urge to “get away from it all” does exist. The Vondelpark is the place of choice do to just that.
Flowers
Photos of Flowers
It needs no explanation that Tulips and Amsterdam have a warm relationship with each other. In contract to the popular believe that wooden shoes and windmills are abundant in The Netherlands, flowers are. Both as an export product and as a consumer good. In Amsterdam, the floating flower market in the centre is an obligatory visit for any tourist, as is an excursion to the Keukenhof flower garden in spring.
List of all Photos
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