There are not many places in Europe that could be called an experimental laboratory for architecture. The sights of Rotterdam are based precisely on this principle – to surprise tourists with unusual buildings in different styles. Nevertheless, the port city is perceived very organically and inimitably, and noticeable eclecticism does not bother anyone. One cannot but admire the scope of creative thought when one sees all these cubic houses and museums, churches and mosques, the White House and the World Museum. Another “chip” is environmental friendliness, it seems that cleanliness and a green area are here even in port and industrial areas. Everything looks very natural, very clean and well-groomed, but this level is not so easy to achieve. Such progress is one of the achievements of the Dutch. The management of the city of Rotterdam makes every effort to modernize this part of the land as much as possible, it was clean and comfortable.

Erasmus Bridge

Named after Erasmus of Rotterdam, it is considered one of the most beautiful. It connected the city center with the growing area. The longest drawbridge, reaching 802 m, cost 163 million euros. The high cost is due to the complexity of the design, which combined the drawbridge and the suspension bridge.

The asymmetric creation of the young architect van Berkel – Lebed, as the locals call it for the elegance of the design and the 139-meter curved pylon rising upwards, was built for more than 6 years. During its construction, the latest techniques and materials were used, which made it possible to build a bridge, the thickness of which does not exceed several meters. Inaugurated in 2006 by Queen Beatrice, it has been further improved to give it immobility.

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town hall

At the beginning of the XX century. to replace the old Town Hall, which turned out to be not as spacious as required, the architect Evers built a new one. Queen Wilhelmina laid the first stone at the foundation, and the building itself was raised from shell rock in five years. During the Second World War, the town hall was damaged due to the bombing of the city, but survived. The subsequent restoration gave the pretentious building a new carillon with 48 bells.

The facade of the Neo-Renaissance building is decorated with sculptures that convey national traits: caution, reliability, perseverance and enterprise, and a statue of the patroness of the city. The building houses the Civic Hall, where official receptions, celebrations and organ music concerts are held. A few years ago, centuries-old dust was washed off the walls of the Town Hall, allowing it to take on its original color.

Euromache

Euromast owes its appearance on the map of the city to the flower festival – Floriade, which is held in Holland once every 10 years. In 1960, the honor of hosting the flower extravaganza belonged to Rotterdam, where a competition was announced for the best building by that date. The winner was the project of Hugh Maascant, who proposed to build a tower in the form of a ship's mast with a bridge on top. The height of the Euromast was 101 m and ended with a horizontal platform with a glass dome. In 1970, it was decided to supplement the building with an 85-meter space tower, making it the tallest building in the Netherlands.

The tower housed several restaurants (one is distinguished by gourmet cuisine, the other is the usual fast food), a souvenir shop, several suites and 2 observation decks. Visitors can view the cityscape from a height of 100 m – an open observation deck, from where you can go down the rope. An elevator rises and falls along the built-in part, rotating around an axis.

Area Delfshaven

Tourists will be able to touch the 300-year history in the district of Rotterdam, which has survived even in the bombings of the Second World War, which is located on the right bank of the New Maas. Once a separate harbor and then a municipality, it features unique architecture. Delfshaven is filled with historic buildings, antique shops, atmospheric pubs and restaurants. The entire area is permeated with a network of canals along which boats scurry.

Area attractions include the Church of the Pilgrim Fathers, whose laconic facade is crowned by a bell-shaped superstructure, a restored windmill and the only Pilgrim brewery in the city. A copy of the ship Delft, which took part in the battles of the 18th century, is of constant interest.

Boijmans-van Beuningen Museum

One of the largest museums in the Netherlands will be a real discovery for travelers. The Kunstmuseum was founded after Frans Jakob Otto Boijmans bequeathed his collection to Rotterdam in 1947. The second significant collection to add to the museum's fund in 1958 was the van Beuningen collection, which his heirs sold to the museum. The Boijmans-van Beuningen Museum is unusual in everything: from the collection and exposition to the building itself. Most of the fund was received as a gift.

During its existence, thanks to 1.5 thousand private collectors, it has replenished with about 50 thousand pieces of art. This is what led to such a variety and selection of authors. The most amazing thing in the museum is the exposition, in which neither the chronology nor the eminence of the creators of the works is observed. Well-known names coexist with novice masters, and masterpieces are surrounded by modern installations.

Cathedral of St Laurentskerk

You will no longer be able to see the original medieval St. Laurentskerk Cathedral – it was badly damaged. From built in the XVI century. After the bombing of the cathedral, walls and part of the tower remained, which were restored by 1968. But even from them one could observe the heterogeneity of the structure due to reconstructions and additions, in which the Gothic style of the building was lost.

Among the surviving sights of the cathedral are the tombs of Admiral Witte de Witt and the ancestor of Franklin Roosevelt – Henry Roosevelt, depicting scenes of war and peace, bronze doors and 3 organs. The chief of the organs is the largest in the Netherlands. Organ concerts are often held in the cathedral.

The 65-meter tower serves as an excellent observation platform for the opening panorama. There is a charge to climb it.

Church of St Lawrence

St. Lawrence Church was originally named after the patroness of the poor and hungry, St. Elizabeth, and was built in two stages. First, the facade was built in 1908, which was occupied by the parish church. Later, after World War I, towers were added. The pseudo-Romanesque style that was chosen for the building was reflected in them as well.

During World War II, 2 bombs fell on the church, the integrity of one of which is still being debated. The restored church was turned into a cathedral in 1956 and the name of the patron saint of Rotterdam, St. Lawrence, was added to the name. Tourists in the cathedral are attracted by wonderful stained glass windows, sculptures and a mosaic altar.

museum park

The museum park is one of the most unusual places. Its territory is divided into 4 zones: a zone of paths, a zone of romance with a bridge, lawns and flower beds, an urban zone where events are held, and a well-groomed garden. The decoration of the space is the reservoirs, where water flows from the city center during heavy rains. The park got its name because there are many art galleries and museums along its perimeter. This is the famous Boijmans-van Beuningen Museum, and the Kunsthal Gallery, striking with unusual architecture, where expositions change monthly, the Institute of Architecture, which also has exhibition halls, the Shabo Museum introducing the art of Rotterdam, the Natural History Museum with a large collection and a sample of functionalism Villa Sonneveld.

cube houses

Avant-garde buildings, which the architect called “forest” are hard to pass by. They are a cube placed on a hexagonal pylon. It was assumed that a community housing area of 55 houses, a school and infrastructure would be erected over a busy highway. The project was carried out by architect Piet Blom, who built a residential complex of 38 houses. The living space of the house has 3 floors, each of which has a different shape (triangle, polygon and pyramid).

Initially, some of the houses were conceived as residential, while others were intended for offices. But the houses were so to the taste of tourists, who definitely wanted to take a look at the arrangement themselves, that one apartment was allocated for a museum. Now everyone can see the unusual building and its arrangement.

Botanical garden “Arboretum Trompenburg”

The Arboretum Trompenbrg Botanical Garden is a paradise for true nature lovers. There are no entertainment zones or cafes in it, the whole territory is divided into zones with skillfully created microclimate and irrigation system. The garden began with a private collection, the roots of which go back to the middle of the 19th century. to the surname Van Hoy Smith. At that time, an arboretum of 7 hectares was located on the outskirts of the city.

Over the years, family members have added to the collection. But the arboretum turned out to be in the very center of the city and taxes turned out to be unbearable for a private person. In 1996, a managing fund was created, which owns the botanical garden. Every year more than 50 thousand visitors come to the garden to admire the largest collection of oaks, beeches, rhododendrons, Rogersia, succulents.

Blaydorp Zoo

One of the most beautiful zoos in Europe, Bleidorp is a favorite place for residents and guests of the city. The collection of animals gathered here is very rich; many rare specimens. The zoo is divided into thematic zones: Amazonica, Africa, Asia, Riviera, Ice Cave, Oceanium, etc. Some zones are occupied by covered pavilions, as part of the Amazon, where they placed huge and small butterflies, or the Oceanium, which is proposed to be viewed from a glass tunnel.

Other areas are in open-air enclosures, like Africa with okapi and lowland gorillas, America with vicunas and bison. In the zoo, tourists can watch the feeding of animals, the schedule of which is specified on the official website, or for 2 €, they can appear as their favorite animal in the picture.

Embankment of sculptures

The Westersingel canal embankment can be called a free open-air gallery. It houses 17 art objects: unusual sculptures and provocative installations, which are available at any time of the day. Among them are the works of Karl Visser, Umberto Mastroianni, Auguste Rodin, Joel Shapiro and others. Some of them are installed on special pedestals, such as “Marching Man”, “Great Musician”, “Farewell” or “Reclining Figure”. Others are placed in the middle of the lawn – “Height”, representing a tree hanging a meter from the ground, or multi-colored logs or caterpillars, arranged in a checkerboard pattern.

The extraordinary sculpture of Shapiro at one time caused a flurry of indignation among the inhabitants. They considered “Nameless” not to fit into the surrounding landscape. And Fisser's work “Mother and Child” became a real provocation. Sleepers in the role of a mother and a child as a disassembled doll – contemporary art was not accessible to everyone.

Miniworld Museum

Miniworld is the world of Lilliputians, an amazing museum that allows you to see the city and its environs in miniature. This project includes one of the world's largest 535 m2 scale models, made in 1:87 scale. In addition, the building houses a restaurant, workshops and a gift shop. The city itself on the layout occupies only about 200 m2, on which the most iconic buildings and places are collected, and of course the port. The rest reflects the surroundings of the city: its suburbs, coastal landscapes, Kinderdijk, verdant polders, rivers and canals.

All this is permeated with a network of roads and railways, along which traffic does not stop. Every 24 minutes there is a change of day and night. Visitors will be able to observe how parts of the model are made in the workshops, how the movements of trains and cars are controlled from the control point.

Maritime Museum

One of the top five maritime museums in the world and the oldest in the Netherlands. It was founded by Prince Nedrik in 1873. The museum fund includes over 850 thousand exhibits. Among which are models of ancient and modern ships, nautical atlases, globes and maps, navigational instruments, ship equipment and gear, projects for future structures, reports on discoveries and conquests, etc.

The museum includes an open area in the port, where more than 20 ships are moored: from modern yachts to ships of the early 19th century. Visitors are offered to view some of the ships from the inside. Of particular interest is the ramming ship “Buffalo”, where the usual working atmosphere is recreated: from the whispers of sailors in the shower to the sounds of music in the officers' quarters.

Kinderdijk village

The unique village of Kinderdijk is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, symbolizing the skillful collaboration between man and nature. She is a symbol of the Netherlands, a recognizable business card representing 19 windmills. Arriving in these places, the settlers were forced to constantly win back land first from the swamp, then from the rivers. In order to live peacefully, dams were built, and when they were not enough, the idea arose to use huge windmills, with which you can pump water from canals to special tanks in case of excess and back in case of drought. Built in 1740, the mills are still in working order in case the modern machinery that replaced them fails. All of them are residential, in one there is a museum.

Ethnographical museum

The Ethnographic Museum (better known as the World Museum) is a museum about the culture of the present and the past. He owes his discovery in 1883 to members of the Royal Yacht Club, who brought relics and unusual objects from their travels, which later became exhibits. The expositions of the museum will tell about the customs and traditions of the peoples inhabiting Asia, America, Africa and Oceania. The fund is almost 2 thousand exhibits.

Among them are maps, atlases, reconstructions of dwellings and transport, feather and bronze items, ritual and religious objects, etc. Some halls are decorated as palaces or temples, and the appropriate musical accompaniment helps to further immerse yourself in the atmosphere.

Railway station building

The rapidly increasing passenger flow showed the need for reconstruction of the railway station building, built in 1957. Like many modern buildings, the new station embodied innovative ideas and the latest technologies. The unique project cost 630 million euros not at all because of the materials. In the construction, mainly natural materials were used: wood and glass. Wall decoration, both internal and external, wooden beams, glass roof. This choice allowed us to significantly save on lighting. Solar panels installed on the roof provide the station with the necessary electricity.

Under the same roof housed the maintenance room and platforms. The pedestrian tunnels with shops leading to them are located under the railway tracks. The underground part is protected by turnstiles, which pass with a smart card. Above the southern exit from the station is a console that protects from the bright rays of the sun or rain.

The White house

Walking around the city, one cannot fail to notice that the municipal authorities did not focus on preserving the look of the Old World as much as possible. A bet on modernism and experimentation, this is the most “American” of all cities in Europe. And where, if not in the very heart of our civilization, the first skyscrapers, such as the White House, were destined to be born. By today's standards, this is not a skyscraper at all, but the style of the 11-story building with a peaked roof is impressive. For the European tradition of the 19th century, this was a large-scale project.

Witte Huis survived the bombings of World War II, preserved in almost original form. The first European skyscraper once made a splash among those wishing to look at the “construction of the century.” This “business center” was included in the list of Dutch sites protected by UNESCO. For some reason, the rest of the skyscrapers on the other side of Oudehaven (Old Harbor) don't evoke such enthusiasm, ordinary office buildings in stark contrast to the White House.

In those days, the project was criticized for a long time, skeptics argued that weak soils would not withstand it. But he was destined to be embodied, despite the difficulties with piles and foundations. It is difficult to compare it with anything, the structure is somewhat reminiscent of a futuristic castle. Today it is an excellent observation deck of a historic building with a quaint Art Nouveau facade and the inscription “Het Witte Huis”.

Museum of Natural History

Perhaps, in every self-respecting country there should be a natural history museum, and this is not necessarily a privilege of the capitals. The Natural History Museum has about 400,000 objects and is one of the most visited sites. Its exposition is based in the Villa Dijkzigt (Villa Dijkzigt for the Van Hoboken family, built in 1852) on the territory of the Museumpark, not far from the Town Hall and the Boijmans van Beuningen Museum.

The Museum of Natural History opened in 1927 with over 44,000 visitors, which was considered a record for those times. It united several sections, growing into a Museum from private collections of Dutch philanthropists and patrons. In 1922, this initiative was supported by the Dutch Natural History Association (Association for the creation and maintenance of the Museum of Natural History), 5 years later it was opened.

This is a medium-sized Rotterdam museum collection, but it has great prestige and influence in the European natural history sector. His focus on urban ecology remains unique. For some time it had a different name – the Rotterdam Museum of Nature (1986 – 2005). The dynamically developing environmental direction has become an example for other institutions of this kind.

Künsthal

Kunsthal is a large museum site almost in the very center, it is the territory of the Museum Park, which belongs to several collections of rare exhibits. For more than 20 years in a row, this place has been hosting exhibitions of various content that change thematically, mainly devoted to contemporary art. In tourist guides, this place is marked as one of the most attractive objects for city guests.

The museum building was designed by the Dutch architect Rem Kolgas in 1992. It is worth walking around the museum park at any time of the year, the entrance to the Kunsthal is from the Westzeedijk. The museum has a notorious notoriety for the number of stolen paintings. This fame brought him a kind of “anti-record”. From here, 7 masterpieces were stolen with a total value of about 200 million dollars, including Pablo Picasso's Harlequin Head and Lucian Freud's Woman with Closed Eyes.

However, the wave of robberies in 2012 also affected other European art museums, and security measures were tightened in Rotterdam. Here you can see the best works of masters of the XX century. For example, one of the copies of “The Scream” by Andy Warhol, the work of the eccentric photogenius Chuck Close and Arne Quince, a Belgian artist and sculptor who built a wooden nest in his hometown.

Mevlana Mosque

The mosque is a recognizable building with two tall minarets near the railway line. It can be clearly seen on the right if you go by train from Delft. If we count the time along the way – a few minutes before reaching the central station. This is a fairly large building, stylistically somewhat reminiscent of the Blue Mosque of Istanbul, only the format and number of minarets are smaller.

Today there is a lot of debate about the likelihood of absorption of European culture by Islam, but this is the reality of our time. Perhaps due to the hasty construction of mosques by the Turks, their country is in no hurry to be accepted as a full member of the EU. Two or three mosques is the norm for a large multinational city in Europe, which has a large diaspora from traditionally Muslim countries.

A well-groomed yard with parking, where most of the cars of prestigious brands are traditional for any European mosque. There is another religious building in the city, similar to the Mevlana Mosque, at the exit to Dodrecht, on the right side. The station building Mevlana with high minarets belongs to the Dutch-Turkish community.

Shabo Museum

It enjoys constant interest among guests, although the city has many other unique expositions of the Southern part of the Netherlands. Art connoisseurs come here to plunge deeper into the world of expressionism, incomprehensible to the uninitiated. Already on the way to the Shabo Museum, there is something to admire – a white mansion in a modern style impresses with its harmony and eclecticism.

The mansion near the Museum Park contains sketches, canvases, graphics and sculptures by the famous Dutchman. The famous expressionist artist did not collect his own paintings and sculptures, but this is the largest collection of his sketches, photos and sketches. In addition to a small part of his creative heritage, works by other artists – local, Dutch and European – are periodically exhibited here.

The creative genius of Hendrik Chabot had a special view of things. His paintings “The Fire of Rotterdam” and “The Greengrocer” amaze with special drama. It was an innovator of European art of the 1st half of the 20th century. The main part of his creative heritage is collected not in this White Villa, but in the best European museums.

Hat Park

Among the strange kind of urban buildings and monuments “it is not clear why”, there is a beautiful green area. It's nice to spend time here, resting from the “culture shock” of local museums and the perception of all this chaos of architectural styles. Het Park is a European-style well-groomed piece of land reclaimed from the sea.

In the Netherlands, as you know, flowers and green spaces are treated with special awe and love. This is obvious when you find yourself in a magnificent English-style park, which has been open to tourists and citizens since 1852. Families like to relax here on weekends – there are barbecue areas, cafeterias, a local restaurant that always pleases with affordable prices and delicious homemade food. Also, everything is provided for outdoor enthusiasts – courts, treadmills and cycle tracks.

Specialists in “green architecture” have done everything possible to make this place beautiful at any time of the year. From under the snow, which rarely lies for a long time due to the maritime climate, a few coniferous plantations peek out. In spring and summer, everything is buried in greenery and flowers, autumn impresses with a riot of colors. For lovers of landscape design, there is Tuin Schoonoord, a decorative area adjacent to the east.

Plaswijk Park

Any European city can capture with its well-groomed green areas and amusement parks. Families come here – there are playgrounds, places for barbecues, attractions and entertainment programs for the public of different ages.

The park lake is the habitat of waterfowl, there are swans and pelicans, with which tourists like to take pictures. There is a mini-zoo and a walking area with gazebos, benches and lawns for relaxation. This is a small area, but there is enough space for everyone. It seems that time has frozen, and the bustle of the city is somewhere far away, although the frantic rhythm of Europe's largest port pulsates just a few meters from this place.

Dakpark rooftop park

Has anyone ever heard of parks on the roofs of skyscrapers, hotels and business centers? And they exist, one of these is in Rotterdam. This is a large garden on the roof of the shopping complex, where you can climb after a tiring shopping. In windy weather, it is unlikely to be comfortable here, but during a calm sea, you can enjoy the beautiful panorama of the “City of the Future”. The marketplace is so big that when you go upstairs, you forget that there is a functioning building below.

Upper-level oases among the stone jungle once seemed like fantasy. But in the short term, such a solution can become a worthy alternative to the general urbanization of Old Europe with total construction of every square meter of territory. For a city with futuristic architecture, this is quite an acceptable landscaping option.