So I'm in A'Dam for work and on Sunday I look for church when I'm away. Catholic for a day!…read more St. Nicks, easy to find, Across from Centraaaaal Station. All good. Mass was 10:30 for me. The place was mostly full. Crowd was mostly Dutch and in upper-class casual. Folks kept their fancy coats on but I was amazed at the population. Full church! The church is beautiful and Interesting. Classic transept catholic style. Stations of the cross, helpfully numbered. Morning light streams thru the stained glass windows above the altar and in the cupola. Cool beans. Music was tops. Familiar hymn style tunes, Rather than Sunday school hits. Organist nails it, especially during the outro. What do you call that? The Tocatta&Fuge portion? It was boss tho. Choir came to win that day. Filled the place with choral winning. Service is Dutch so don't expect to understand anything, but It is familiar as a standard mass. A program is handed out prior by friendly bilingual Dutch folks. Priest spends time twice during service talking in English to make the visitors feel welcome and explain that coffee is available après. Final: if you prefer actually visiting a church rather than nosing your fat Anglo Hilfiger into someone else's parish like a tour'eifel noob, this place is a gooder.

Coming from our hotel we had seen this marvelous cathedral, and I knew we had to stop by on our…read morereturn. Fortunately it was open, as we saw some others going in. The cathedral is gorgeous, awe inspiring. The quiet and reverence here offers a complete escape from the outside world. After soaking up the timeless architecture we were lucky stumble on the choir practicing for their Saturday 5 PM performance - amazing, beautiful voices and music. We only wish we had more time and could have stayed for the complete performance.

As an American, I was especially touched to see the Engelese Kerk, built originally in 1420. A…read morerefuge for those suffering from religious persecution in England, it is the site where the Pilgrims prayed before sailing on the Mayflower for religious freedom in America. Do check out the poignant stained glass depiction of this in the far back of the Church.

What's not to like about this place. It is free to enter (touchless donation options available) -…read morebright, airy and beautiful! So much history. Right next to the Anne Frank museum, the heart of Amsterdam West and Jordaan. I hear the church bells ring all day from my apartment. I didn't realize we could enter for free. It was my first time here. Very wonderful. We were on a Dutch language class field trip so had to find some clues in there. It's a must see when visiting Amsterdam. I suggest maybe skipping the Anne Frank house if the lines are long, (but lately with online reservations, seems okay!), and go here. I doubt the tower is open these days with Covid times, but maybe in two, three years when Covid is gone, it will be open once again.

This is the biggest church in Holland and right next to the hotel we were staying at. After walking…read moreby it multiple times, we decided to stop by and am glad we did. It was built in the early 1600's and is stunning both inside and out. Sadly the observation deck was closed when we were there. And cool factoid for you...Rembrandt was buried here.

Beautiful Sephardic synagogue that's still being used by a diminished congregation. The building…read moreis unique with a long history. It's unheated and doesn't have electricity. The audio guide is very informative. It explicates the long history of the Jewish community in Amsterdam and the devastation of the holocaust. Amazingly, the congregation was able to reconstitute itself.

The Jewish Cultural Quarter is east of the city center with Europe's largest and oldest active…read moresynagogues. Its magnificent interior looks much as it did in 1675, with its original towering stone columns, vaulted timber ceiling & wooden pews surrounding a massive Torah ark made of gleaming wood. Evening services are illuminated by hundreds of candles in the large brass chandeliers. The sheer size of the synagogue & it's beauty left us awestruck. The Portuguese Synagogue is the functioning house of prayer of the Portuguese Jewish Community of Amsterdam. On days when no services are held, this magnificent esnoga and the hidden treasure chambers are open to visitors. What makes this building so remarkable is that its interior has remained completely intact. No heating or electricity has been installed and it's lit by a thousand candles you see all around. At night, by candlelight and the candlelit concerts are supposed to be incredible. The world's oldest functioning Jewish library is also here: Ets Haim Livraria Montezinos, which is on UNESCO's World Heritage List.

It's not everyday that you see a historic church used as a museum space for modern art, fashion,…read morecelebrities, or culture and history of religious groups other than Christianity. Not to mention also host royal weddings and music recitals. With De Nieuwe Kerk (The New Church), you find all these in one spot. Construction began in 1408 during medieval times and the church was finished and consecrated a year later, dedicated to Saint Catherine. The current impressive wooden-beamed roof was result of a devastating fire in 1645 after which several key components of today's building were added: the organ, pulpit, brass choir screen, and elaborate funerary monuments such as the one to Admiral Michiel de Ruyter. 1959 to 1980 was the most recent major restoration with a national foundation created and stepping in once the Protestant church that originally owned the building became unable to maintain upkeep. As a modern event space, they host a variety of happenings--most commonly museum exhibitions, as was the case when I visited. "Mokum - the Biography of Jewish Amsterdam" took visitors thru the history of the Jewish community--from immigration, shared cultural customs and traditions and gradual advancements in society, to the subversive Nazi movement and ultimately occupation of Amsterdam during WWII, the strained persistence to survive and the rebuilding that happened afterwards. There were a lot of didactic placards with info on what was being displayed, in both Dutch and English throughout the exhibit. Tickets are €22.50 for adults, discounted tickets available for children (Youth 12-17 years €15.00, under 12 free), students €15, certain groups and pass holders are free. Tickets include a free audio tour. I used the "i amsterdam" pass which involved a quick scan of the QR code at the ticket counter. Recommend about 45 minutes to go thru the tour, maybe an extra 20-30 minutes to check out the church building itself. For more info: https://www.nieuwekerk.nl/en/

This is a stunning church right in the city center right next to the palace. It was built in the…read more1500's. It is not an active church and is used for events. Beautiful inside and out.

Yelp Review 2023 #94:…read more Located in the Red Light District is Amsterdam's oldest building with a long history that has nothing to do with prostitution whatsoever. Starting in the 1200's when this church was built for Catholics. It became a Protestant church in the 1500's when the Dutch were no longer fans of the Catholic Church and switched teams. It became as an archive center. Under the floors of this building is a graveyard. And now, it's an art center. The tickets are about €14 for adults and cheaper for children depending on their age, and students. It's open from 10am-6pm on Mondays to Saturdays, and 1pm-5pm on Sundays. Check their website for most current information. Outside the building you'll see bronze sculptures: a breastplate sculpture, and Belle the Sex Worker. Keep your eyes on the ground and around so you don't miss them.

Huge old cathedral in Amsterdam in the red light distract. It's mostly empty but a beautiful…read morebuilding and worth a quick look at for any visitors.

The church is located within the historic citywals of naarden. Surrounding the church there is a…read moredense group of historic houses.... Gives a good idea how the dutch lived 300+ years ago. The church is cathedrL size and has a gorgeous paintedceiling. Best to be seenduring a concert. The church is known as one of the best churches in netherlands to listen to the mattheus passion. Arguably, het concertgebouw in amsterdam has better acoustics. The "bach asspciation" performs regularly in this church.

It's definitely a part of Amsterdam that I want to revisit when there's more time. It just happened…read moreto be our drop off and pick up point when given free time to roam about in Amsterdam during a shore excursion. Our guide gave us a little history about the Jodenbuurt before walking us over the Amstel River to a more centralized part of the city. The Joods Museum and the Portuguese Synogogue are the biggest highlights in the quarter. The Jewish History Museum is housed in a building that once had four separate Ashkenazi synagogues. It focuses on the 350 years of Jewish history in Amsterdam prior to Nazi occupation. The Portuguese Synogogue is also a place that shouldn't be missed. It miraculously survived through WWII untouched thanks to Leo Palache (a volunteer firefighter) who somehow prevented the occupying forces from turning it into a Jewish deportation center. There are still Jewish relics being discovered today that were hidden in the synogogue by the fire brigade to protect their heritage. It's stories like this that really bring it all to light. As you're walking through the Jewish quarter, you'll also come across many brass plated stumbling stones that signify the loss of this great community. These have the names of people who were deported and then taken to extermination camps. I just happened to see 2 memorial stones from the Abrahams family who later died at Auschwitz. Their memory lives on as more people discover their names in the bricked pathways. Rembrandt's house (now a museum) is also in the Jewish Quarter. It's about a 5 minute walk away when passing through Waterlooplein. There's a lot of natural beauty and many cafés as you head in the opposite direction towards the botanical garden in De Plantage. So, there's really a lot to see and do in this area. It was a part of Amsterdam that I hadn't seen before. Hopefully we'll return to discover more hidden gems in this area.

The former Jewish Quarter is where from the late 16th century to WWII most Jews lived. The Statue…read more'De Dokwerker' on the Jonas Daniël Meijerplein, waserected in memory of the February Strike of 1941 For more than 350 years, Amsterdam was a center of Jewish life & its Jewish community was a major contributor to the city's vitality and prosperity. The Waterlooplein area was their neighborhood, where they held their market & built their synagogues. In 1593, Sephardic Jews from Portugal & Spain settled in this neighbourhood. In the course of the 17th century Ashkenazi Jews from Central, Eastern, and partly Western Europe also moved into the area. After WWII those that survived relocated to Israel, Canada & the United States. There are art installations & guest speakers bringing attention back to this neighborhood.