Dam

The Dam occupies Amsterdam’s historical centre, where a broad town square marks the former crossing of the Amstel. Damrak, Rokin, Nieuwendijk, Kalverstraat, and Damstraat all meet or finish around this busy space. Shops, restaurants, hotels, trams, and public gatherings keep the square active throughout the day.

A dam and discharge sluice stood here around 1270, linking settlements on opposite riverbanks and controlling the water. Locks later allowed boats to travel between the Amstel and the harbour known as Damrak. The market square once held a fish market and weigh house, while the partially filled river mouth eventually made room for new buildings.

The western side presents the Royal Palace, once Amsterdam’s seventeenth-century city hall, beside the Gothic Nieuwe Kerk. Across the square, the white National Monument commemorates Second World War victims and anchors the ceremonies held on 4 May. De Wallen begins beyond the northeastern corner, while De Bijenkorf, Madame Tussauds, and Krasnapolsky add different faces to this historic meeting place.