Holidays in the Netherlands
In spring and summer, Amsterdam and Rotterdam turn into lively tourist centers. The cities of Holland are masterpieces of medieval architecture. Ancient merchant houses, majestic cathedrals, town halls and modern buildings adjoin here.
In Amsterdam, you can visit the Rijksmuseum (Flemish painting), the Stedelijk Museum of Contemporary Art, the Westerkerk Cathedral with a bell tower (there is the tomb of Rembrandt). The city has several churches of interest to tourists. This is the church Ude-Kerk (1300) and the church Neuve-Kerk (XV century). Be sure to visit the Riks Museum – one of the greatest museums in Europe, along with the Prado, the Louvre and the Uffizi Gallery. In the Museum you can see paintings by Dutch artists, dating from the 15th to the 19th centuries, including works by Rembrandt, Van Eyck and Vermeer. With about 1 million exhibits and receiving about a million visitors a year, the Ricks Museum is the largest art museum in the Netherlands. Of interest are sculptures, applied art, prints, photographs, drawings and a collection of Asian art. You can also learn a lot about the history of Holland from the 15th century to the Second World War. The Van Gogh Museum owns the largest collection of paintings by this great artist. The collection once belonged to the brother of the artist Theo, whose son presented the collection to the Dutch government, which in 1973 opened the Museum. The main part of the collection includes more than 200 paintings, 500 drawings and 700 letters of Van Gogh. In addition to the paintings of Van Gogh, here are the works of his contemporaries, such as Gauguin, Toulouse-Lautrec and Millet. In the Anne Frank House, she and her family hid before the Nazis discovered them and sent them to a concentration camp. Visitors can visit the rooms where little Anna wrote her famous diary. About half a million people come to this museum every year; This is one of the most popular attractions in Holland. It is difficult to imagine the capital of Holland without the buildings of the exchange and the central station, residential houses of the XVI-XVII centuries. Among the architectural monuments stands the Royal Palace, built in the XVII century. Dam Square – the historic center of Old Amsterdam.
The Boyman van Beningen Museum, the Academy of Arts, the Conservatory, the Museum of Ethnography and the Zoo are located in Rotterdam. Delfshaven (Pilgrim Port) is a historic district of Rotterdam with many old buildings and a rich history. From this harbor in 1620, pilgrims who came to the Netherlands to escape religious persecution sailed to New World and settled in Plymouth in Massachusetts. Visit the Crane House, dating from 1653, the Church of the Pilgrim Fathers and the City Assembly Hall, turned into a brewery.
In Niemengen there is a museum of Roman art, and in Haarlem there is a museum of Frans Hals, a museum of industrial art in the castle of the XVIII century, the church of St. Bavo with a unique organ for 5000 pipes.
The Hague is the seat of government, parliament and the royal court. In the city, be sure to check out the Royal Art Gallery and the Houses of Parliament. It is also interesting to walk around the part of the old town of the XIII century. with medieval towers (Binnenhof and Buttenhof). In the Hague there is the Peace Palace, built by Andrew Carnegie in 1913, Maduram (reconstruction of the ancient city in miniature), the Mauritshuis Palace, the International Press Museum, the Postal Museum and the Costume Museum.
Groningen is famous for the church of St. Martin (XIII-XVI centuries) and the remnants of the Roman settlement. One of the oldest branches of agriculture in the Netherlands is floriculture, which dates back to 1599, when the botanist Clusius opened a greenhouse of exotic plants in Leiden.
The smallest city in Holland is Madurodam. You will not find it on the map of the country. With its large collection of various objects made at a scale of 1:25, Madurodam reflects the character of a real Dutch city and its surroundings. It shows the most impressive examples of Dutch architecture from many periods. One of its special features is that immediately after its opening, the miniature city had a mayor of royal origin. Before her ascension to the throne in 1980, Queen Beatrix played the role of mayor of Madurodam. Queen Beatrix is still the patroness of the city. The miniature city of Madurodam was opened to the public on July 2, 1952.
Maastricht, located in the south of the Netherlands, is the capital of the province of Limburg. The city attracts tourists from all over the world not only for its rich history, but also for its special beauty. The name of the city comes from the Latin Mosa Trajectum (Mosae Trajectum), which means “Wade through the Meuse.” Maastricht, founded by the Romans in 50 BC. e., is the oldest city in the Netherlands. The city, divided into two parts by the river Meuse, is especially attractive due to its magnificent historical buildings. Among the sights of the city, the remains of the defensive line Van du Mulin, Maastricht Bridge, built in 1298, the wonderful churches of Sint-Servaskerk, Onze-live-Vrau and St. John.
