The Rokin is a canal and major street in the centre of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

. The street runs from Muntplein square to

Dam square Dam Square or the Dam () is a town square in Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands. Its notable buildings and frequent events make it one of the best-known and most important locations in the city and the country. Location and description ...

. The Rokin canal used to run from Muntplein square to Dam Square, but in 1936, the part between Spui square and Dam Square was filled in. Canal boats are now moored on the remaining part of the water, from the

Amstel The Amstel () is a river in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. It flows from the Aarkanaal and Drecht in Nieuwveen northwards, passing Uithoorn, Amstelveen, and Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, to the IJ in Amsterdam. Annually, the r ...

Grimburgwal The Grimburgwal is a small canal and street in the center of Amsterdam. Location The canal was the southern border of the city until 1425 and is now the southern border of De Wallen, the red light district. The Nes street and the Oudezijds Voo ...

History

Originally the Rokin was a section of the river Amstel, and was known then as ''Ruck-in'' (from 'inrukken', which means 'to withdraw', as some of the houses on the Amstel had to be shortened to construct the quays there in the 16th century). Amsterdam's first commodities exchange was built in 1608-1609 at the corner of the Rokin and

Dam Square Dam Square or the Dam () is a town square in Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands. Its notable buildings and frequent events make it one of the best-known and most important locations in the city and the country. Location and description ...

. The commodities exchange, designed by

Hendrick de Keyser Hendrick de Keyser (15 May 1565 – 15 May 1621) was a Dutch sculptor, merchant in Belgium bluestone, and architect who was instrumental in establishing a late Renaissance form of Mannerism changing into Baroque. Most of his works appeared in Amst ...

, played a key part in the economic success of the city during the Dutch Golden Age. The building was demolished in 1835. During the ongoing construction of the North-South line, a new metro line, archeologists dug down to a depth of approximately 20 meters on the Rokin. The archeological finds in what used to be the

river are expected to shed new light on the

history of Amsterdam Amsterdam has a long and eventful history. The origins of the city lie in the 12th century, when fishermen living along the banks of the River Amstel built a bridge across the waterway near the IJ, which at the time was a large saltwater inl ...

and on the landscape and environment of the area in the millennia that preceded the founding of the city."Dit leert de bodem onder het Rokin ons over de stad"
folia.nl. 10 November 2016. Retrieved January 2018. The Mirakelkolom, which normally stands on the Rokin, was temporarily removed during the construction of the metro line. The Mirakelkolom is a stone column made up of remnants of the Heilige Stede (Nieuwezijds Kapel), a chapel built to commemorate the 1345 ''Mirakel van Amsterdam'' ( Miracle of the Host). The chapel was demolished in 1908. A fire in the Rokin on May 9, 1977, claimed 33 deaths. Image:Rokin2005.jpg, The Rokin in 2005, with construction on the North-South line underway. File:20180120 RKN01.jpg, Entrance to Rokin metro station. Image:Cornelis_Anthonisz._-_vogelvluchtkaart_amsterdam_1544_-_Detail_Dam.jpg, Amsterdam in 1544, with

in the centre and the Rokin in the top left. In 1936, the Rokin was filled in from Dam square to Spui square.

Notable buildings

* Arti et Amicitiae, an artists' society and art gallery at the corner of Rokin and Spui, constructed in 1841 and designed in part by Berlage. * The former offices of The Marine Insurance Company Limited at Rokin 69, a

Jugendstil ''Jugendstil'' ("Youth Style") was an artistic movement, particularly in the decorative arts, that was influential primarily in Germany and elsewhere in Europe to a lesser extent from about 1895 until about 1910. It was the German counterpart of ...

building from 1901 designed by

Gerrit van Arkel Gerrit A. van Arkel (April 3, 1858 in Loenen aan de Vecht – July 11, 1918 in Abcoude) was a Dutch architect who designed many of Amsterdam's most prominent Jugendstil (Art Nouveau) buildings. He moved to Amsterdam in 1883 to become an architec ...

. *

Tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

shop Hajenius at Rokin 92-96, royal purveyor of cigars and other tobacco goods since 1826. Both the building from 1914 and the richly decorated interior were designed by the brothers van Gendt, sons of the prominent 19th century architect Adolf Leonard van Gendt. * The

Allard Pierson Museum The Allard Pierson Museum is the archaeological museum of the University of Amsterdam. It is situated at the Oude Turfmarkt 127 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Artifacts from the ancient civilizations of ancient Egypt, the Near East, the Greek ...

for antiquities, on the Oude Turfmarkt, in the former headquarters of the Nederlandsche Bank, the Dutch central bank. * Magazijn De Gouden Bril, the oldest remaining optician in the Netherlands, at Rokin 72. There is a statue of a monkey with binoculars on the rooftop. * The house of Pieter Janszoon Sweelinck, son of composer and organ player

Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck ( ; April or May, 1562 – 16 October 1621) was a Dutch composer, organist, and pedagogue whose work straddled the end of the Renaissance and beginning of the Baroque eras. He was among the first major keyboard compo ...

, at Rokin 145, built in 1642/1643 under the direction of

Philips Vingboons Philips Vingboons (or ''Vinckboons'', ''Vinckeboons'', ''Vinckbooms'') ( – 2 October 1678) was a Dutch architect. He was part of the school of Jacob van Campen, that is, Dutch Classicism. Vingboons was especially highly regarded in his native ...

, with a splendid example of a raised neck-

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

at the top of the building. * Hotel de l'Europe, at the corner of the ''Nieuwe Doelenstraat'' and the Rokin, an imposing building from 1895/96.

Transport

Rokin metro station on Route 52 of the

Amsterdam Metro The Amsterdam Metro ( nl, Amsterdamse metro) is a rapid transit system serving Amsterdam, Netherlands, and extending to the surrounding municipalities of Diemen and Ouder-Amstel. Until 2019 it also served the municipality of Amstelveen but thi ...

opened in July 2018. The Rokin is also served by tramway lines 4, 14 and 24.

References

{{Canals of Amsterdam Streets in Amsterdam Canals in Amsterdam

History

Notable buildings

Transport

See also

References