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Amsterdam was still a small city with no more than about 30,000 inhabitants, but things changed quickly, especially in 1585, when Spanish troops recaptured Antwerp (in modern Belgium), then the dominant port and commercial centre of the Netherlands.
Introduction. 1200 – 1572. Amsterdam is a very old city and used to be called Amstelerdam. Even today, the inhabitants still call it Mokkum. The city is named after a 13th-century dam in the River Amstel and after it was granted city rights in the 1300s, the city soon developed into a prosperous trading city.
Amsterdam was founded as a fishing village around the thirteenth century. Amsterdam developed round a dam in the Amstel river at the end of the 12th century. The name Amstelledamme occurs for the first time in the toll concession of Floris V, Count of Holland, dated October 27, 1275.
It joined the Hanseatic League in 1369 and grew steadily in the 14th and 15th centuries. After the decline of Antwerp at the end of the 16th century, Amsterdam became the source of growing Dutch commercial and naval power. It was the centre for the Dutch East India and West India companies and became the leading trade metropolis of Europe.
Art and Culture. Europe Netherlands Amsterdam. Amsterdam’s UNESCO-recognized canal ring (Grachtengordel to locals) is an open-air museum filled with historic landmarks and repositories of world-class art.
See & do. History. Since a long time, Amsterdam has been one of the real world cities. During the seventeenth century, Amsterdam was even able to take up the position as the economic centre of the world for itself. Nowadays, the city is known for its tolerant character. Legislative history.
Amsterdam History. The Dutch capital has its roots in the damming of the River Amstel in the 13th century, spawning the settlement of Aemstelledamme. The town became a trading centre, with ships delivering grain and timber from the Baltic region, then picking up cloth manufactured in Leiden.
