History of Amsterdam: Golden Age sites to see

A dam on the Amstel (13th century)

The city's name tells its origin: Amstelredam, the dam on the Amstel. In the 13th century, settlers built a dam at the mouth of the river, where it meets the IJ. The dam became the centre of the settlement: boats were unloaded there and markets were held.

The oldest document naming the city is dated 27 October 1275. With this toll privilege, Floris V, Count of Holland, exempted the people "of Amestelledamme" from tolls on his lands. This date was the starting point for the city's 750th anniversary celebrations in 2025. City rights followed around 1300 or 1306: the exact date is unknown, as no document has survived.

The site of the dam is now Dam Square. Nothing of the original structure is visible, but the square is still the heart of the city. The medieval town hall stood here until the fire of 1652; its successor, the future Royal Palace, was already under construction.

The medieval city: Oude Kerk, the Miracle and the Begijnhof

The Oude Kerk is the oldest building in the city. A wooden chapel was built here around 1213, and the stone church, dedicated to Saint Nicholas, patron saint of sailors, was consecrated in 1306. Its wooden vault and its floor of some 2,500 gravestones show how much it mattered to the city's families.

In 1345, Amsterdam became a place of pilgrimage. According to tradition, a host brought up by a dying man and thrown into the fire was found intact: this was the Miracle of Amsterdam. The chapel built on the spot, on the Kalverstraat, has disappeared, but Catholics keep the memory alive with the Stille Omgang, a silent procession held every year in March, at night, through the centre.

As the city grew, it gained a second parish church, the Nieuwe Kerk, consecrated in 1409 on the Dam. The Begijnhof, first mentioned in 1307, was then home to beguines, pious women who lived in community without taking vows. Its enclosed courtyard near the Spui contains one of Amsterdam's oldest wooden houses, at number 34.

The 15th-century walls: Schreierstoren and Waag

Between 1481 and 1494, Amsterdam built a brick wall with towers and gates along today's Singel, Kloveniersburgwal and Geldersekade. Two witnesses survive.

The Schreierstoren, a few minutes from Central Station, is one of the few towers of the walls still standing. It stood on the waterfront, where ships left the harbour. A plaque recalls the departure of the explorer Henry Hudson in 1609, on the voyage that took him to what is now New York.

The Waag on the Nieuwmarkt is the former Saint Anthony's Gate, built in 1488. When the city expanded, the gate lost its defensive role: in 1617 it became a public weigh house, where goods were weighed, and guilds moved into its towers.

1578: the Alteration and the hidden churches

During the Dutch revolt against the King of Spain, Amsterdam long remained Catholic and loyal to the king, then switched sides on 26 May 1578: this was the Alteratie (Alteration). The Catholic council was driven out and the churches passed to Protestant worship. The medieval stained-glass windows of the Lady Chapel in the Oude Kerk survived this period.

Catholics could no longer celebrate mass in public, but the city tolerated churches hidden in houses. The best known can be visited at the Our Lord in the Attic Museum, a church built under the roof of a merchant's house, a short walk from the Oude Kerk. At the Begijnhof, the beguines lost their chapel, given in 1607 to the English Presbyterians, and fell back on a hidden chapel at number 30.

After the Spanish captured Antwerp in 1585, thousands of merchants and craftsmen from the South settled in Amsterdam, followed by Sephardic Jews from Portugal and Spain, then by Ashkenazi Jews. The Jewish Cultural Quarter, around the Portuguese Synagogue of 1675, keeps their memory alive.

The Golden Age: the VOC, the canals and the town hall

In 1602 the Dutch East India Company (VOC) was founded; Amsterdam was its main chamber, and its ships brought back spices, porcelain and textiles from Asia. The city became Europe's great commercial and financial centre.

To house a fast-growing population, it began digging the canal ring in 1613: the Herengracht, Keizersgracht and Prinsengracht, laid out in an arc around the Singel. Merchants built their gabled houses along them. The ensemble has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2010, and several houses are open to visitors: see our guide to canal houses to visit.

The symbol of this power is the new town hall on the Dam, now the Royal Palace. Its first stone was laid on 28 October 1648, a few months after the Peace of Münster recognised the independence of the Dutch Republic. Jacob van Campen's building rests on 13,659 wooden piles; it was inaugurated in 1655, before it was finished. In the Citizens' Hall, maps of the world inlaid in the marble floor place Amsterdam at the centre of the universe.

This was also Rembrandt's city: he lived from 1639 to 1658 in the Rembrandt House, painted The Night Watch in 1642, now in the Rijksmuseum, and was buried in 1669 in the Westerkerk. Our walk in Rembrandt's footsteps covers these places in detail.

The port and the sea: the Maritime Museum and the Amsterdam

The city's wealth came from the sea. The Maritime Museum (Het Scheepvaartmuseum) occupies the 's Lands Zeemagazijn, the Admiralty storehouse built in 1656 on the Oosterdok. Its galleries trace the fleet of the Republic, sea charts and the trade of the port, without avoiding colonial history.

Moored at the jetty, the replica of the Amsterdam, a VOC ship whose original was lost on its maiden voyage in 1749, can be explored from deck to hold. Built between 1985 and 1990, it shows in concrete terms what life on board was like; the visit is included in the museum ticket.

Decline and revival: 18th and 19th centuries

In the 18th century Amsterdam remained wealthy but lost its leading position to London. Wars with England, then French occupation from 1795, weakened trade. In 1806 Napoleon made his brother Louis Bonaparte King of Holland; in 1808 Louis turned the town hall into a palace.

The 19th century revived the city. The North Sea Canal, opened in 1876, brought the port closer to the sea. The architect Pierre Cuypers designed the Rijksmuseum, opened in 1885, and Central Station, opened in 1889 on artificial islands reclaimed from the IJ.

The 20th century: war, then the city of protest

In May 1940 Amsterdam was occupied by the German army. In February 1941 a general strike protested against the first round-ups of Jews. The vast majority of Amsterdam's Jews were deported and murdered; the Anne Frank House and the Resistance Museum bear witness to this. Our guide Amsterdam and the Second World War presents the memorial sites.

In the 1960s and 1970s the city became a laboratory of protest: the Provo movement staged one happening after another, then residents opposed the demolitions planned for the metro, with clashes around the Nieuwmarkt in 1975. The historic centre has remained lived-in, which still gives it its character.

Where to see the city's history in a museum

The Amsterdam Museum, the city history museum, is closed. Its building on the Kalverstraat, the former city orphanage, is under full renovation in 2026 and is due to reopen in 2030. Its branch in the Amstelhof, on the Amstel, closed at the end of November 2025; the building is now entirely occupied by the H'ART Museum. Our Amsterdam Museum page follows the project.

In the meantime, the museum runs Amsterdam in Motion, opened in October 2025 in Westergas culture park: a 45-minute show projected onto a 200 m² multimedia model of the city, telling 750 years of history. The ticket also gives access to the Willet-Holthuysen canal house on the Herengracht, run by the same museum.

The Allard Pierson, on the Rokin, brings together the museum and heritage collections of the University of Amsterdam. Its permanent route focuses mainly on Antiquity (Egypt, the Near East, Greece, Etruria, Rome), but its collections also include Golden Age maps and books. Finally, the 17th-century galleries of the Rijksmuseum show the city at its height.

Prices observed in October 2026 on the official websites. Under-18s get in free at the Royal Palace, Amsterdam in Motion and the Rijksmuseum; the Allard Pierson charges €3.50 for ages 5 to 18. All these sites are free with the Museumkaart.

Timeline: the dates and the sites to see

The Dam, the Oude Kerk, the Waag and the Schreierstoren are all less than 15 minutes' walk from one another: a morning is enough to link them, before heading to the Maritime Museum along the waterfront.

Further reading

To visit these sites in order, our guide to Amsterdam's historic centre covers the Dam, the Spui and the Kalverstraat, and our guide to the Nieuwmarkt neighbourhood covers the Waag, the Zeedijk and the Schreierstoren. If you are short on time, our Amsterdam in 2 days itinerary combines the main historic sites and museums.