New Market
In New Market, Amsterdam once kept a marketplace tightly bound to its medieval defenses and waterways. The square’s urban form dates to 1614, when the canals around the Waag were filled in, creating land for trade next to the Waag—originally a gate in the city walls, later converted into a weighing house after those walls were demolished in the 17th century. The broader square was established in 1585, and by the modern era its identity remained market-facing: a daily market, an organic food market on Saturdays, and—during summer—antiques and book stalls on Sundays. During World War II, the Nazis used this open space as a collection point for Jews rounded up to be sent to concentration camps. In the 1970s, demolitions around the Nieuwmarkt followed plans for a metro and a four-lane highway threading through the neighborhood, triggering the Nieuwmarkt Riots in 1975 and eventually abandoning the highway. …
AI-generated from open data and cross-checked, with review where noted. How we write narrations
🎧 Listen in WayWhisper
