Dam Square, Amsterdam!

Dam lies in the historical center of Amsterdam. I was a cool area to see filled with huge beautiful buildings! The Royal Palace in Amsterdam is one of three palaces in the Netherlands which are at the disposal of Queen Beatrix by Act of Parliament. The palace was built as a city hall during the Dutch Golden Age in the 17th century. The building became the royal palace of King Louis Napoleon and later of the Dutch Royal House. It is situated on the west side of Dam Square in the centre of Amsterdam, opposite the War Memorial and next to the Nieuwe Kerk.

The National Monument is a 1956 World War II monument on Dam Square in Amsterdam. A national Remembrance of the Dead ceremony is held at the monument every year on 4 May to commemorate the casualties of World War II and subsequent armed conflicts. The monument was designed by Dutch architect J.J.P. Oud, and the monument's sculptures are by John Rädecker and his sons Han and Jan Willem Rädecker. The reliefs are by the sculptor Paul Grégoire.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the National Monument, which dominates the eastern half of Dam Square, became a gathering place for hippies, who saw the monument as a symbol of liberty. Every night, a sizeable crowd of people slept around the monument in sleeping bags. On 24 August 1970, the municipal government banned "Dam sleeping". This incited rioting on Dam Square which continued until the next day, when the square was cleared by off-duty marines. The hippies then relocated to the Vondelpark.

The Nieuwe Kerk is a 15th-century church in Amsterdam, located on Dam Square, next to the Royal Palace. The Nieuwe Kerk is a burial site for Dutch naval heroes, including Admiral Michiel de Ruyter, Commodore Jan van Galen and Jan van Speyk. The poet and playwright Joost van den Vondel is also buried in the church.

Today, the church is no longer used for services but is now a popular exhibition space and is also used for organ recitals. There is a café in one of the buildings attached to the church that has an entrance to the church. There is a museum store inside the entrance that sells postcards, books, and gifts having to do with the church and its exhibitions. Currently showing an American Indian exhibit. We did not check it out! 

The church is in use by the royal family for investitures, most recently that of Queen Beatrix in 1980, and weddings, most recently the wedding of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, to princess Máxima in 2002. The investitures of Wilhelmina of the Netherlands and Juliana of the Netherlands also took place there.

Beautiful horse and carriage! Love horses! In the building behind there was a Madame Tussaud wax museum. Peek & Cloppenburg is a large fashion department store!

Tiesto at the Madame Tussaud's wax museum!

This was an everything Holland gift shop in dam square! Heineken, Tulips, clogs, blue and white porcelain, windmills...

Built in 1899 the Magna Plaza building has been originally Amsterdam’s Central Post Office (now on Singel 250, corner Radhuisstraat), so the architect followed the mood of the period giving it several crowned gothic towers and rich late gothic ornamental façade. The building has been a technological wonder of its time.

Built on 4650 piles stuck in the muddy ground, it had a huge main hall, galleries hanging above it and a lot of natural light through the huge windows and a glass roof. It was an important place in the life of the city not only as a post office. During the rainy day, the darker corners of the main hall served as a refuge for the homeless. Still, the Amsterdam population never accepted its architecture, feeling that it was too ornamental, calling its style "post office gothic", pointing that it reminds the building of Parliament in London.

Technology changes made the building too big for its function, as many other post, telephone and bank offices in town. During the thorough reconstruction in 1990, the escalators were added inside and the interior has been turned into the Amsterdam first shopping mall. 

Pretty mall inside! Check out the Shopping Center online! www.magnaplaza.nl

I liked this store! gsus sindustries

Several tram lines traverse the Dam and have stops there. In the time of the horse tram (end 19th century) the Dam was the most important tram hub of Amsterdam. After 1900 this function moved to the Stationsplein.

Dutch Word of the Day:
Plein meaning square, plaza, court

PEACE & LOVE,
Kevin & Amanda