Why visit / Interesting facts:
- Great daily market
- Impressive square
Time required: 30 minutes
Public transport:
- Tram Line 4: Dam stop
- Tram Line 9: Dam stop
- Tram Line 16: Dam stop
Address: Nieuwmarkt, 1011 Amsterdam
Photos: (see more photos)
Photo: Ferdi's World
Things you need to know:
- Nieuwmarkt (New Market) is a large square in central Amsterdam
- It has been a marketplace since the 15th c. and still hosts a daily market and an organic food market on Saturdays
- Nieuwmarkt is dominated by De Waag that was originally the eastern gate of the medieval city wall
- After the walls were torn down in the 17th c. De Waag served as a weighing house and gave home to numerous guilds, including the surgeons'
- Rembrandt painted his famous Anatomy Lesson of Dr Tulp in De Waag. Public executions took place in Nieuwmarkt making it easy to acquire corps for dissection
- In World War II Nazis used the square as a collection point for Jews to be sent to concentration camps
- In 1975 a heavy riot broke out as a protest against a planned metro and highway which was to run through the Nieuwmarkt. As a consequence the highway project was abandoned
What to do there:
- Walk around this vast square
- You can not miss De Waag that dominates the square
- Have a coffee in one of the nearby cafés
Tips & Insights:
- A daily market is held on this square and an organic food market on Saturdays
- In the summer months an antiques and books market takes place on Sundays
