| Page Views: 1,260 Last Visit to Rotterdam: October, 2005 | Rotterdam / Port of Rotterdam by al_mary - last update: Nov 6, 2005 |
Rotterdam has the largest port in Europe, "The Port of Rotterdam". It is the
seventh largest port in the world in terms of containers (TEU) handled.
Most important for the harbour of Rotterdam are the petrochemical industry
and general cargo transhipment handlings. The harbour functions as an
important transit point for transport of bulk and other goods between the
European continent and other parts of the world.
From Rotterdam goods are transported by ship, river barge, train or road.
Since 2000 the Betuweroute, a fast cargo railway from Rotterdam to
Germany, has been under construction. Large oil refineries are located
west of the city. The rivers Meuse and Rhine also provide excellent access
to the hinterland.
In the first half of the twentieth century the harbour activities moved from
the centre towards the North Sea. The Nieuwe Waterweg was dug from
Rotterdam to the North Sea, a canal to disembogue the shallow Rhine
and Meuse. The Nieuwe Waterweg was ready in 1872 and all sorts of
industrial activity formed on the banks of this canal.
Rotterdam's harbour territory has been enlarged by the construction of the
Europoort, the gate to Europe complex along the mouth of the Nieuwe
Waterweg, and by the Maasvlakte in the North Sea near Hoek van Holland.
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|  | Rotterdam Granted City Rights
Rotterdam was given city rights on
7 June 1340 by Willem IV of Holland.
On May 14, 1940 Rotterdam was
bombed by the German Luftwaffe,
on the last of five days of war in the
Netherlands, save Zeeland.
The heart of the city was almost
completely destroyed, which
Ossip Zadkine later expressed
strikingly with his statue Stad
zonder hart - City without a heart.
The statue is located near the
Leuvehaven, not far from the
Erasmusbrug north of the city.
From the 1950s through the 1970s
the city was rebuilt. It remained quite
windy and open until the city councils
from the 1980s on began developing
an active architectural policy.
Daring and new styles of apartments,
office buildings and recreation facilities
resulted in a more 'livable' city center
with a new skyline. In the 1990s a new
business centre on the south bank of
the river, the Kop van Zuid has been built.
Rotterdam, Amsterdam, The Hague and
a number of smaller cities in the west of
the country are expanding towards each
other to the extent that the entire area is
sometimes denoted as a single metropole
known as "Randstad" ......
Click On Photo To Enlarge
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The Cube Houses
Well-known streets in Rotterdam
are the shopping center the Lijnbaan,
the first set of pedestrian streets of
the country, opened in 1953.
The Coolsingel with the city hall, and
the Weena, which runs from the
Central Station to the Hofplein.
A modern shopping venue is
de 'Beurstraverse', also informally called
'Koopgoot'. The Koopgoot crosses the
Coolsingel at substreet level ......
As with all cities and towns in the
Netherlands, a must to visit is
"Market Day" ......
Click On Photo To Enlarge
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| In A Nutshell: | "Well Worth A Visit - Very Historical" |
al_mary's Rotterdam Travel Tips
| Overview | Things to Do
Tips: 2 - Photos: 2 | | | | Restaurants | Hotels & Accommodations | | | | Nightlife | Off The Beaten Path | | | | Tourist Traps | Warnings Or Dangers | | | | Transportation | Local Customs | | | | Packing Lists | Shopping | | | | Sports Travel | General Tips |
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