Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands

The Rijksmuseum is a Dutch national museum dedicated to arts and history in Amsterdam. The museum has on display 8,000 objects of art and history, from their total collection of 1 million objects from the years 1200–2000. The collection contains more than 2,000 paintings from the Dutch Golden Age by notable painters such as Jacob Isaakszoon van Ruisdael, Frans Hals, Johannes Vermeer, Jan Steen, Rembrandt, and Rembrandt's pupils. Probably the most well known pieces of art are The Milkmaid (c. 1658) painted by Johannes Vermeer and The Night Watch (1642) by Rembrandt.

The Rijksmuseum was founded in The Hague in 1800 and moved to Amsterdam in 1808, where it was first located in the Royal Palace and later in the Trippenhuis. The current main building was designed by Pierre Cuypers and first opened its doors in 1885. On 13 April 2013, after a ten-year renovation which cost € 375 million, the main building was reopened by Queen Beatrix. In 2013, it was the most visited museum in the Netherlands with a record number of 2.2 million visitors.

The museum has taken the unusual step of making some 125,000 high-resolution images available for download via its Rijks Studio software, with plans to add another 40,000 images per year until the entire collection of one million works is available, according to Taco Dibbits, director of collections.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

Arvind Yerram (2 years ago)
Undoubtedly the first and the foremost museum we can see in Amsterdam. This is the Dutch National museum dedicated to arts and history. Collection is huge and are spaced far away from each other. That makes it even more attractive. Be ready for long walks.

Shamik Shah (2 years ago)
This is an awesome museum with so much to look at, it was actually amazing to look at all the different years of artifacts and exhibits. It was very detailed with a lot to read. I have to say though you do need a good 4-5 hours in the museum to take in everything. I only had about 3 hours to look at everything so I was rushing at the end and I did miss some areas. But I do recommend his museum

Debbie Tan (2 years ago)
amazing collection!!! we spend the whole day in the museum. remember to bring your own lunch if you are planning to spend the whole day. they have free audio... just download the app on your phone. and is more interesting to listen to the audio ...it made me appreciate the art more Will come back again!

Magda Tuszynska (2 years ago)
Great museum. Very interested. Definitely worth to visit! All kinds of art. The library is amazing! You need at least 3-4 hours to see everything.

Nicholas Zimet (2 years ago)
Wonderful museum with impressive collections. We also appreciate its location being so close to other good museums if you want to make a full day of it. The space is huge though so prepare to be overwhelmed! The museum cafe was surprisingly high quality and diverse compared to the typical cafe at similar sites.

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

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Cesis Castle

German crusaders known as the Livonian Brothers of the Sword began construction of the Cēsis castle (Wenden) near the hill fort in 1209. When the castle was enlarged and fortified, it served as the residence for the Order's Master from 1237 till 1561, with periodic interruptions. Its ruins are some of the most majestic castle ruins in the Baltic states. Once the most important castle of the Livonian Order, it was the official residence for the masters of the order.

In 1577, during the Livonian War, the garrison destroyed the castle to prevent it from falling into the control of Ivan the Terrible, who was decisively defeated in the Battle of Wenden (1578).

In 1598 it was incorporated into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Wenden Voivodship was created here. In 1620 Wenden was conquered by Sweden. It was rebuilt afterwards, but was destroyed again in 1703 during the Great Northern War by the Russian army and left in a ruined state. Already from the end of the 16th century, the premises of the Order's castle were adjusted to the requirements of the Cēsis Castle estate. When in 1777 the Cēsis Castle estate was obtained by Count Carl Sievers, he had his new residence house built on the site of the eastern block of the castle, joining its end wall with the fortification tower.

Since 1949, the Cēsis History Museum has been located in this New Castle of the Cēsis Castle estate. The front yard of the New Castle is enclosed by a granary and a stable-coach house, which now houses the Exhibition Hall of the Museum. Beside the granary there is the oldest brewery in Latvia, Cēsu alus darītava, which was built in 1878 during the later Count Sievers' time, but its origins date back to the period of the Livonian Order. Further on, the Cēsis Castle park is situated, which was laid out in 1812. The park has the romantic characteristic of that time, with its winding footpaths, exotic plants, and the waters of the pond reflecting the castle's ruins. Nowadays also one of the towers is open for tourists.

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