After The Hague, we spent the afternoon in Rotterdam where we took a long walk through the modern streets before heading back to Amsterdam in the evening
The architecture of the city really impressed us, especially the huge Markthal building where a huge painted arch stretches over the market and of course we couldn’t miss the famous Cube Houses or Kijk-kubus which stand on their corners and completely subvert one’s perception of space
The history of Rotterdam began in the thirteenth century when a dam was built on the Rotte River and the residents of the area gradually developed the settlement from a small fishing village into a significant commercial city. Its strategic location at the mouth of the Rhine allowed the city to quickly become one of the most important bases for seafaring and by the end of the Middle Ages it had already played a decisive role in the economic life of the region
The pride of the city is the famous humanist scholar and theologian Erasmus who was born here at the end of the fifteenth century and whose name is still intertwined with the identity of Rotterdam today. His memory not only is it guarded by statues and institutions, but also by the imposing Erasmus Bridge named after it, which is one of the most spectacular elements of the modern cityscape and connects the historic and new parts of the city
The twentieth century brought a tragic turn in the life of the city when at the beginning of the Second World War a devastating bombing almost leveled the entire historic center to the ground. However, this painful event also provided an opportunity to create a completely new cityscape, so Rotterdam became the most modern architectural testing ground in Europe after the war, where bold forms and skyscrapers played a leading role
Today, Rotterdam boasts the largest port in Europe, which is also an unavoidable center of logistics and world trade on a global level. The city is constantly pulsating and developing, and innovative port technologies and sustainable architectural solutions ensure that Rotterdam remains the city of the future, while its cultural diversity lends a unique atmosphere to the spaces
