STATION AREA, MUNTPLEIN, DAMRAK AND BEURSPLEIN

Old Town

The Old Town, Binnenstad, is the heart of Amsterdam. The borders to Binnenstad is the Singelgracht canal in the south, east and west and the lake IJ and the harbour Ooosterdok in the north. It is where the old canal buildings are, as well as all famous squares and the central station.

Amsterdam Centraal, the Main Railway Station and largest communication hub of Amsterdam. This renaissance building from 1889 is one of Amsterdam's most famous. I took trains to all other cities from this station, that is the largest in the Netherlands.

The backside of the station borders the harbour on Lake IJ on the backside of this building (right in the picture). The station lies on 3 man made islands and stands on almost 9000 pillars!

Most tourists that arrive from Schiphol airport and other cities arrive at this station.

The interior of the station. It is used by 250 000 passengers a day and is the starting point of the metro. Some days the plaza in front was overcrowded with people.
The largest railway company is NS (Nederlandse Spoorwegen) and has yellow and black trains, many double deckers in good condition. I travelled to Rotterdam, Den Haag, Utrecth and Schiphol from this station.

Damrak

Damrak is the busy street and partially filled in canal that goes from the central station to the Dam square. It has many restaurants, casinos and the famous bourse house is situated here. Many canal boat tours start here.

Damrak in the morning, when I just arrived to Amsterdam. Looking towards the Dam square, with Beurs van Berlage to the left.

Damrak, towards the station.

There are many restaurants on Damrak. The buildings are small with nice architecture.

Beursplein. This is where this famous bourse house, Beurs van Berlage, lies. It was completed in 1903, designed by Hendrik Petrus Berlage. It influenced many modernist architects.

Reaching the Dam Square from Damrak.

Picturesque canal houses and the canal boat that I toured with, seen from Damrak. The small canalhouses are leaning, that is why they are considered "dancing".

Canal houses and the back of Beurs van Berlage.

Muntplein

The Mint Square is actually a bridge, the widest bridge in Amsterdam. It is where the Singel canal and the Amstel river crosses, as well as many tram lines. It is also the busy intersection of 6 streets, including Kalverstraat and Rokin. It is named after the famous Mint tower that stands on the square.

Munttoren, The Mint Tower. One of the 3 medieval gates from the city wall. It was built in 1480, destroyed in a fire and rebuilt in renaissance style in 1620. The name comes from the fact that it was used to mint coins in the 17th century.

The guardhouse from the 19th century has an underpass.

A complex modern Pathé (French cinema chain) building at Vijzelstraat.

Mc Donald's are common in Amsterdam, here at Muntplein. The street is Vijzelstraat.

Reguliersbreestraat, a street between Muntplein and Rembrandtplein.

Theater Tuschinski. A very cool cinema building on Reguliersbreestraat! It was completed in 1921.

Art noveau, art deco, gothic and jugend elements. One of the most beautiful cinemas in the world and one of my favourite buildings in Amstedam.

The impressive foyer of Theater Tuschinski with its many decorations and green dome.