Dam Square

Brief Information

Dam Square did not grow out of a ceremonial plan, but out of a dam on the Amstel. In the 13th century it was built on the river, then gradually reinforced and expanded until a city square appeared on this spot. That is why the name of the square and of Amsterdam itself are connected with the same engineering gesture: the river was blocked, and the city began to take shape around this place.

Today it is an almost rectangular space about 200 meters from west to east and about 100 meters from north to south. What matters is not only its size, but its position: the square connects Damrak and Rokin, streets running along the former course of the Amstel. In this way, the river’s past is read not as a separate monument, but as the direction of urban movement through the square.

What to Notice First

It is worth comparing the two sides of the square. On the western side stands the Royal Palace: it began as Amsterdam’s town hall and now belongs to the group of palaces placed at the monarch’s disposal. This change of function is important for reading the square: the city’s political center ended up beside a church, a museum, and commercial facades.

Next to the palace is the Gothic New Church of the 15th century, and nearby is Madame Tussauds; on the opposite side, the white stone stele of the National Monument, erected in memory of the victims of the Second World War, dominates. One can notice how the square gathers different roles into a single rectangle: the former town hall speaks of civic authority, the church of an earlier layer, the monument of remembrance, while the Krasnapolsky Hotel and the Bijenkorf department store show the commercial side of Dam Square.