Amsterdam, Canals

This place is called "9 bridges canal" because sailing over you can see all 9 bridges in the arck of the first one!



This is the nerrowest canal in the city, houses face the water and its width is about 1 meter only!






Much of the Amsterdam canal system is the successful outcome of city planning. In the early part of the 17th century, with immigration at a height, a comprehensive plan was put together, calling for four main, concentric half-circles of canals with their ends resting on de IJ bay. Known as the "grachtengordel", three of the canals are mostly for residential development (Herengracht or ‘’Gentleman's Canal’’; Keizersgracht or ‘’Emperor's Canal’’; and Prinsengracht or ‘’Prince's Canal’’), and a fourth, outer canal, the present Nassau/Stadhouderskade, for purposes of defense and water management. The plan also envisaged interconnecting canals along radii; a set of parallel canals in the Jordaan quarter (primarily for the transportation of goods, for example, beer); the conversion of an existing, inner perimeter canal (Singel) from a defensive purpose to residential and commercial development; and more than one hundred bridges. The defensive purpose of the Nassau/Stadhouderskade was served by moat and earthen dikes, with gates at transit points but otherwise no masonry superstructures.

Construction proceeded from west to east, across the breadth of the lay-out, like a gigantic windshield wiper as the historian Geert Mak calls it – not from the center outwards as a popular myth has it. Construction of the north-western sector was started in 1613. After 1656, with the canals in the southern sector also already finished for some time, building in that sector too was started, although slowly. The eastern part of the concentric canal plan, covering the area between the Amstel river and the IJ bay, was never implemented. In the following centuries, the land went mostly for parks, old age homes, theaters and other public facilities – and for waterways without much plan.

Over the years, several canals have been filled up and are now streets or squares, such as Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal and Spui.

Short trip to Amsterdam, April 2008

National monument with the Hotel Krasnapolsky in the right background, Dam Square, Amsterdam




Dam Square lies in the historical center of Amsterdam, approximately 750 meters south of the main transportation hub, Centraal Station. It is roughly rectangular in shape, stretching about 200 meters from west to east and about 100 meters from north to south. It links the streets Damrak and Rokin, which run along the original course of the Amstel River from Centraal Station to Muntplein (Mint Square) and Munttoren. The Dam also marks the endpoint of other well-traveled streets, Nieuwendijk, Kalverstraat and Damstraat. A short distance beyond the northeast corner lies the main red-light district, de Wallen.

On the west end of the square is the neoclassical Royal Palace, which served as the city hall from 1655 until its conversion to a royal residence in 1808. Beside it are the 15th-century Gothic Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) and the Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. The National Monument, a white stone pillar erected in 1956 to memorialize the victims of World War II, dominates the opposite side of the square. Also overlooking the plaza are the Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky and the upscale department store De Bijenkorf. These various attractions have turned the Dam into a tourist zone. The square abounds with city pigeons, popular for birdfeeding.






The first known record of Amsterdam is 27 October 1275, when the inhabitants of a late 12th century fishing village who had built a bridge with a dam across the Amstel were granted freedom by count Floris V from paying a bridge toll .[10] The certificate's wording (homines manentes apud Amestelledamme - people living near Amestelledamme) gives the first known use of the name Amsterdam, which by 1327 had developed into Aemsterdam.[10] A local tradition has the city being founded by two fishermen, who landed on the shores of the Amstel in a small boat with their dog. In any case, Amsterdam's origin is relatively recent in comparison with other Dutch cities such as Nijmegen, Rotterdam and Utrecht.
Amsterdam was given city rights in 1300 or 1301
The 17th century is considered Amsterdam's "Golden Age". In the early 17th century, Amsterdam became one of the wealthiest cities in the world. Ships sailed from Amsterdam to the Baltic Sea, North America, Africa and present-day Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka and Brazil, and formed the basis of a worldwide trading network. Amsterdam's merchants had the biggest share in the VOC and WIC. These companies acquired the overseas possessions which formed the seeds of the later Dutch colonies. Amsterdam was the most important point for the trans-shipment of goods in Europe, and it was the leading financial centre of the world. Amsterdam's stock exchange was the first to trade continuously.

The 18th and early 19th centuries saw a decline in Amsterdam's prosperity. The wars of the Dutch Republic with England (see Anglo-Dutch Wars) and France took their toll on Amsterdam. During the Napoleonic Wars, Amsterdam's fortunes reached their lowest point. However, with the establishment of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815, things slowly began to improve. In Amsterdam new developments were started by people like city planner Samuel Sarphati, who found their inspiration in Paris

Short break in Amsterdam, Netherlands, April 2008

Amsterdam is the capital and the largest city of The Netherlands. Its name is derived from "Amstel dam",[6] pointing to the city's origin: a dam on the river Amstel. The city is known for its historic port, the Rijksmuseum, its red-light district (de Wallen), its liberal coffee shops with canabis, and its many (more then 1000) canals which have led to Amsterdam being called the "Venice of the North". And it really looks like venice. During the Dutch Golden Age, Amsterdam was one of the most important ports in the world, with innovative developments in trade, and became the leading center for finance and diamonds.
The city, founded in the late 12th century as a small fishing village, has grown to become the largest city in the Netherlands with a population of 743,104 inhabitants, containing at least 172 nationalities.
Amsterdam and its surrounding metropolitan area have a population of 1 million to about 1.5 million people, depending on definition, and is part of the Randstad conurbation, which has a population of 6,659,300. Also, Amsterdam is a six-point Gamma Global City