Centraal Station

Description:

• Designed by Pierre Cuypers and completed in 1889, Amsterdam's central train station rests on 8,687 wooden stakes driven into 3 manmade islands and took seven years to build. The project was very controversial in its time because it involved filling in the city's old, historic harbor. And with a history as a shipping and sailing city, residents felt the new station was burying the city's heart—and its spectacular waterfront views. But, the move of the modern harbor to the west of the city has saved the City Centre from the industrial character of modern shipping. Also, the modern entrance to the city is now located in the same place as the historic entrance to the city, in the very center of the City Centre's map of concentric half circles, and so the city operates in much the same way it did hundreds of years ago. Indeed, this is the first sight most of Amsterdam's 4.5 million annual visitors see as they arrive in the city. The waterfront view from the rear of the building, and the trendy Western and Eastern dock areas to either side of the station, still give an idea of what this harbor might have looked like hundreds of years ago. Visitors may notice some similarities in design to Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum—that's because they were designed by the same architect! Both buildings beautifully meld the Gothic and Renaissance Revival styles that were popular at the end of the nineteenth century. (Note: Current construction is due to the building of a new Metro line.)
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