Amsterdam is the capital and largest city of the Netherlands in the province of Noord-Holland. UNESCO heritage, the municipality of Amsterdam has 755,269 residents (as of 30 October 2008) of over 170 nationalities and the population residing in the metropolitan area is about 1.45 million people. Since the institutional setting of government is located in The Hague, it is often confused with the capital, but that is Amsterdam. The Netherlands is one of the few states whose seat of government does not coincide with the capital. It seems that the city’s history has started around 1205, the IJ and the confluence dell’Amstel when Gijsbrecht van Amstel built a castle. In 1222, to contain the swamps of the Zuiderzee, the first community built the first dam (dam or dijk) between the south bank of the river IJ el’Amstel, was born a small fishing village called Amstelledamme, “Amstel dam”, from which then the name of Amsterdam. The Zeedijk, a street in the historic center, it still preserves the memory. These communities soon raised two other dams that are now some city streets as the Kalverstraat and Nieuwendijk one hand, the other Warmoesstraat. Embankments on these men, some rows of houses built entirely of wood and to encourage commercial development, a lock was installed near the dam where it is today, to allow small boats to come and unload their cargo on the docks of city. The Amstel was divided into two arms and his dam functioned as a lock, allowing the river to throw nell’IJ when there was no danger of flooding, and this meant that in 1275, the cluster of houses was identified as city. After the trade was well established, there was an attempt to widen the banks (Burgwal) of the first dams to get more land and then dragged it over time. In 1420, Amsterdam is still a lack of space and channels were built parallel to the embankments of earth, and in 1540, the center of the city had already formed, bounded today by the central station to the north, and from Geldersekade Kloveniersburgwal east, from Singel to the south and west. In 1586, the city decided to start work, really huge, the Grachtengordel vast ring of 4 channels which provided for the enlargement of the excavation of the Singel and Herengracht, Keizersgracht and Prinsengracht of, in 1665 major works were completed and the surface was doubled. This development led to the displacement of the boundaries of the city along the Singelgracht and new walls were named the surrounding towns, from north to south. Before the seventeenth century., Brackish waters of the canals were controlled by separating them closed and tides dall’IJ guaranteed a cleaning. Since the eighteenth century., Locks dell’Amstel provided fresh water to clean the canals of Amsterdam and the canal opening of the North Sea in the nineteenth century. and the creation of Schellingwoude closed in 1872, the city isolated from the influence of the tides. The Zuiderzee, the wide stretch of sea that separates into two Friesland, in 1932 was closed by the giant Afsluitdijk, a dam 30 km long and 90 meters wide, forming a vast reservoir of fresh water, the IJsselmeer, which keeps the climate temperate. Emblem of the coexistence between the city and water channels that are arranged in a semicircle, covering 75 km in length, giving rise to a ninety urban islands. The more than 2500 houses included in this lattice, are built on stilts deep 11 to 18 meters tall and narrow, usually have three to five floors and façades in Baroque style, Renaissance or classic. The main channels (grachten) are those of the North: the Singel, Herengracht (Gentlemen of the channel), Keizersgracht (Emperor Maximilian I of Habsburg Canal) and Prinsengracht (Prince William channel of Orange II) as mentioned earlier. The Singel is the oldest and was excavated in the XIVth century. defensive purposes, alongside a wall, of which two fortified towers, the Muntorren in Muntplein and the Waag in Nieuw Markt Square, were built after the other 3 channels. These channels are now agile traverse of tourist boats, which are based in several places in the Centrum, the Damrak, Rokin and in Damrakburg. The rondvaart, boat rides, shows a particular aspect of the old town, but if you want to watch channels from the ground, perhaps the best way is by bicycle. When it comes to Amsterdam, we speak of cities in Europe, most use the bike (about 600 000), unlike other places where water is dominant, such as Hamburg, Venice, Stockholm, Amsterdam, in fact, has no steps or stairs that disturb the rider and 1281 bridges that cross its 165 channels, have always continuity with the character of streets. Amsterdam is mostly under sea level and it is understandable why the thirteenth century. To date, the water level has been so important. Schiphol Airport, for example, is at -4.5 m, the bottom of the Haarlemmermeer, a dry dock in 1852, the subway is about -11 meters, the Vondelpark, 50 acres of greenery in the heart of the city, was created in 1877 and is draining a marshy area to -2.5 m below sea level. These lands stolen by the sea so to speak, by pumping, are called Polder. The Netherlands were united to the Spanish crown until the sixteenth century, when it ended the war of independence. Among the consequences of independence, was introduced in the state of religious freedom. Amsterdam remained a Catholic city, predominant religion in the city today. However, many churches were converted to the Protestant faith. While the religious wars raging in Europe, Amsterdam became a haven for many people persecuted or fear of persecution because of their religion. Jews arrived from Spain and Portugal, fleeing from the merchants from Antwerp and the Spanish looting of Huguenots from France. The seventeenth century was the golden age of Amsterdam. The Dutch ships sailed for North America, Indonesia, Brazil and Africa, creating a colonial empire. Rembrandt lived in this century. The town grew around the channels. Amsterdam became the most important port in the world and a center of international finance. The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries saw a decline in the prosperity of Amsterdam. The wars against Britain and France put a strain on the city and the trade moved to London. At the end of the nineteenth century, the Industrial Revolution reached the city. New routes to the sea water to the river Rhine and gave birth to new trade routes with foreign countries. The conditions improved in Amsterdam again, but the city did not achieve more than the splendours of the past. In these years he built the Stelling van Amsterdam, a ring of 42 strong and land could be flooded, put to defend the city. The First World War did not bring destruction because the Netherlands remained neutral. The trade and industry still suffered the consequences of a Europe devastated. Between the wars, the Dutch built the walls that separated the Zuider Zee from the North Sea, creating the so-called IJsselmeer (Lake IJseel). The expanse of water east of Amsterdam became so fresh water, not salty, and could be used by the inhabitants. During World War II German troops occupied the city since May 15, 1940 and deported nearly 100,000 Jews, making their community almost disappear. Anne Frank was one of them. Before the war, Amsterdam was the most important center for trade in diamonds. Since this trade was mostly in the hands of Jewish businessmen and jewelers, it disappeared. Today, Amsterdam still has a role in the diamond trade, but his place was taken by world central city of Antwerp in Belgium. In the sixties and seventies Amsterdam again became famous for various reasons: the policy of tolerance towards soft drugs made the city a popular destination for hippies. They became frequent occupations of empty buildings and clashes with police. The eighties began so convulsed in 1980, while Queen Beatrix was crowned, a protest was held outside the church. The motto of the Protestants was ‘Geen woning, geen Kröning’ (no home, no coronation).
The mayor and city council eventually had to call the army to regain control of the situation. During the following years greatly increased the number of immigrants, especially from Suriname, Turkey and Morocco. Many people moved to nearby cities, including Purmerend and Almere. Pijp and Jordaan districts such as, previously inhabited by workers, became sought-after destinations for the new affluent yuppies and students. In the same year occurred the great administrative changes: the city was divided into districts (now 15), responsible for many of the activities that were previously assigned to the central government. The idea was to bring the administration closer to people. The nineties were years of economic boom. The historic old town was almost completely restored and many facilities were completed. In 1995 the national government proposed the creation of a “provincial town”, including Amsterdam and nearby towns. The people rejected the idea in a referendum. The opposition was not so much against the provincial town, but against the city’s division into parts. (hard disk esterno samsung)
After the referendum proposal was filed, but since 1995 some parts of the city, however, became more autonomous, and some nearby towns were merged from Amsterdam, both politically and economically. In a sense, the province was formed the same form of “Greater Amsterdam.” The beginning of the new millennium has brought economic problems for the city. Unemployment has risen. The integration of immigrants arrived two decades ago is still problematic, as shown by the murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh’s 800-year history of Amsterdam, however, have shown that the city is able to recover from such periods.
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Van Gogh Museum is the famous museum in Amsterdam dedicated to the work of the great Dutch artist Van Gogh.
