A view of the canal near Oudekerk. Magnet

A view of the canal near Oudekerk. Travel. Europe. Holland. Amsterdam. Amsterdam is the capital and largest city of the Netherlands. It has been the capital of the kingdom since 1814. Located in the province of North Holland in the west of the country at the mouth of the rivers Amstel and Hey. Amsterdam is connected by the Nordsee Canal to the North Sea. The name of the city came from two words: "Amstel" - the name of the river and "ladies" - "dam". In the XII century it was a small fishing village, but during the Golden Age of the Netherlands Amsterdam became one of the most important ports of the world and a major shopping centre. The city is a place of concentration of various cultures - in April 2009, representatives of 177 nationalities lived here. Amsterdam is also the financial and cultural capital of the Netherlands. The city has many attractions: the Rijksmuseum, the Vincent Van Gogh Museum, the Municipal Museum, the Amstel Hermitage, the Red Light District (De Wallen). This annually attracts more than 4 million tourists.