Dam Square
On the Amstel River, this ground first mattered because of a practical barrier: a dam that gave the city its name. Around 1270, that dam formed the first connection between settlements on either side of the water, including a discharge sluice that controlled the new water levels upstream. That original river-crossing function did not last in its first form. The dam itself was demolished, and what emerged in its place became a civic arena: a town square that stretches roughly 200 metres east to west and 100 metres north to south, linking streets such as Damrak and Rokin. Over time, the Dam gathered the institutions of a growing city. By 1655, the Royal Palace here served as the city hall, until it became a royal residence in 1808. Dominating the square’s later memory is the National Monument, a white stone pillar designed by J.J.P. Oud and erected in 1956 to memorialize the victims of World War II.
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