AMSTERDAM

AMSTERDAM

It´s the capital of the Netherlands. Citizens living in this city speak Dutch. Now we´re going to discover more about it.
CULTURE AND PLACES TO VISIT:
Art runs in the Netherlands’ DNA. It is home to a variety of world-famous museums: the Rijks museum and the Rembrandt House Museum are the ones from the artistic wealth of the Golde n Age. It houses a beautiful and touching collection of the works of one of the most famous Dutch painters.

     

 RIJK´S MUSEUM

ANNE FRANK´S HOUSE: she was a German-born diarist and writer. She is one of the most discussed Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Her diary, The Diary of a Young Girl, which documents her life hiding during the World War II, is one of the world's most known books. She lived most of her life in or near Amsterdam, the Netherlands. As persecutions of the Jewish population increased, the family went into hiding in some concealed rooms behind a bookcase in the building where Anne's father worked. Two years later the family was found and transported to concentration camps. Anne and her sister, Margot, died and Otto Frank, the only survivor of the family, returned to Amsterdam after the war to publicate his daughter´s diary.

SOCIETY:
The population of Amsterdam is one of the most diverse in Europe. Over the last 50 years Amsterdam has known an influx of people originating from other countries and cultures, mostly from Suriname (Southern America), Turkey and Morocco.
In Amsterdam bikes are mostly the first transport to move around the city. There´s also a tram.

    HISTORY:

The 17th century is considered Amsterdam's Golden Age during which it became the wealthiest city in the world. Ships sailed from Amsterdam to the Baltic Sea, North America, and Africa, as well as countries such as Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, and Brazil, forming the basis of a worldwide trading network. Amsterdam's merchants had the largest. Amsterdam was Europe's most important point for the shipment of goods and was the leading Financial Centre of the world.

Amsterdam has faced important wars such as the Napoleonic Wars, in which Amsterdam was absorbed into the French Empire.

In the 16th century, against Philip II of Spain and his successors. This war was caused because of new taxes and religious persecutions of Protestants by the newly introduced Inquisition. The revolt escalated into the Eighty Years' War, which ultimately led to Dutch independence.

CANALS:
 Amsterdam is home to more than one hundred kilometers of canals, most of which are navigable by boat. The three main canals are Prinsengracht, Herengracht and Keizersgracht. In the Middle Ages, Amsterdam was surrounded by a moat, called the Singel, which now forms the innermost ring in the city, and makes the city centre a horseshoe shape. The city is also served by a seaport. It has been compared with Venice, due to its division into approximately 90 islands, which are linked by more than 1,200 bridges.

CLIMATE:

 Amsterdam has an oceanic climate. It rains quite often and part of this precipitation falls as light rain or brief showers. Cloudy and damp days are common during the cooler months of October through March. Both, summers and winters are considered mild, although occasionally quite cool.

By María Lacueva.