Damrak

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Damrak, as viewed from Dam Square.

A birdseye view of Amsterdam circa 1544, looking south. The Damrak is the waterway at the center.

The Damrak is a partly filled in canal at the centre of Amsterdam, between Centraal Station and Dam Square. It is the main street where people arriving at the station enter the centre of Amsterdam. Also it is one of the two GVB tram routes from the station into the centre, with lines 4, 9, 16, 24, and 25.

Also it is on the route of the North/South Line (Amsterdam metro line) being constructed, between the existing metro station Centraal Station, being reconstructed to accommodate the new line. and the new Rokin station.

Because of the former stock exchange building, the monumental Beurs van Berlage (now used for other purposes), and several other buildings related to financial activities erected there in the early 20th century, the term "Damrak" has come to be a synonym for the Amsterdam Stock Exchange in the same way "Wall Street" is synonymous with the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ.

The Damrak was once the place where the Amstel entered the IJ, a saltwater large bay, then open to the sea, and it served as the first harbor of Amsterdam. In the 19th century, a section of it was filled in.

The etymology of damrak is thought to have come from the contraction d'ammerak, literally "on the side of the ammerak. Aemerik is old-Frisian for "a place suitable for inhabitation".