Horse and cart on Dam Square by Don Fonzarelli

Horse and cart on Dam Square in Amsterdam, with the Nieuwe Kerk in the background. Located in the centre of Amsterdam, Dam Square is about 750 metres south of Central Station. The square is rectangular, about 100 metres wide from north to south and about 200 metres long from west to east. Dam Square connects the Damrak and Rokin streets, which run from Central Station to Muntplein. The Dam also leads to well-known streets like Nieuwendijk, Kalverstraat, Warmoesstraat, Nes and Damstraat. The square is lined with several prominent buildings. On the west side is the Paleis op de Dam, which originally served as the town hall (inaugurated in 1655), but has been a royal palace since 1808. Furthermore, the New Church and the wax museum Madame Tussauds are located on Dam Square, and on the eastern side of the square is the National Monument, erected in 1956 in memory of the victims of World War II. Also on the east side of the square is Hotel Krasnapolsky. On the northeast side is the Amsterdam branch of department store De Bijenkorf. The buildings make Dam Square a tourist attraction. In summer, the Dam is also very popular with pigeons. The Dam takes its name from the actual function the square had in the beginning: it was namely a dam in the Amstel, built between 1204 and 1275. The most likely date is between 1265 and 1275. The Dam formed the first connection between d