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Amsterdam, Netherlands
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Amsterdam
lies in the province of Noord-Holland at the junction of the Amstel with
the IJ, an arm of the IJsselmeer. Including its 10 outer suburbs,
Amsterdam has a population of over a million, forming the largest
conurbation in what is known as "Randstad Holland". Amsterdam is capital
of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, but is neither the permanent royal
residence nor the seat of government, both of which are in The Hague. With
its City University, its Free University (a Reformed Church foundation),
the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences and numerous other research institutes
and academies of music, over 40 museums and the world-famous Concertgebouw
Orchestra, Amsterdam is the country's leading cultural center. The houses
of the old town, which is laid out in a pattern of concentric segments in
the shape of a fan, are built on piles driven through an upper layer of
mud and bogland into the firm sandy bottom up to 18m/60ft below the
surface. Within an area of some 800 hectares/2,000 acres are crowded some
6750 buildings dating from the 16th-18th centuries. In the 160 canals (grachten),
which are about 2m/6-1/2ft deep, are more than 2,400 houseboats. The 1281
bridges linking the 90 islands give the town an attractive and often very
picturesque aspect. Eight of the bridges are wooden bascule bridges; the
most famous of these is the Magere Brug. Around the oldest part of the
town are a series of 16th and 17th century extensions, reaching out to the
Singelgracht. The most influential architects of this period were Hendrick
de Keyser, Jacob van Campen and Philip Vingboons. From 1870 onwards new
districts began to develop beyond the Singelgracht, many of them designed
by P. J. H. Cuypers. Throughout the 20th century the city has continued to
expand, a major influence during the early part of the century being H. P.
Berlage, founder of the Amsterdam school of architecture. Among
Amsterdam's other attractions are five windmills, nine carillons and 42
historic organs.
