| Rotterdam is in a strategic position, where the Rhine converges with the North Sea and where Europe’s main port lies, the Mosa. The old quarter of the city is completely new, and the former one was completely destroyed by the bombing in the Second World War, due to the importance of the port.
A large part of the city has been rebuilt with experimental architectural methods, which gives it a special character. The most curious buildings include:
• Geneentebibliotheek: the library building, very similar to the Pompidou Centre in Paris. All of the water service and ventilation ducts are on the outside of the building.
• Kijk-Kubus: the famous Piet Blom cube houses built in 1932. Built in steel, these curious forms are a work of art of modern architecture. The residents of the apartments have furniture designed by the architect himself, which can be used in the anomalous rooms.
In Rotterdam we can visit the marvellous Boijmans Van Beuningen museum, with an extraordinary collection of Flemish paintings and sculptures from the 15th century. There are many interesting museums in the city: the Maritime Museum built by the brother of prince William III in 1873, the Historisch Museum with a display of Dutch customs and traditions, the Historisch Museum in Dubbelde Palmboom, with a curious display of the history of the populations of the river Maas and the Wereldmuseum Rótterdem, a curious ethnological museum.
The most outstanding building in Rotterdam, possibly due to its height, is the Euromast tower, where visitors can go up to its viewpoint 100 metres up.
What you must not miss:
• Geneentebibliotheek
• Kijk-Kubus
• Space Tower
• Stroll in the docklands
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