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- For the player of the spoons, see Artis the Spoonman.
Natura Artis Magistra (Latin for "Nature is the teacher of art"), commonly known simply as Artis, is a zoo in the centre of Amsterdam. It is the oldest zoo of the Netherlands, founded in 1838 by G.F. Westerman, J.W.H. Werlemann and J.J. Wijsmuller. In addition to the zoo artis has a planetarium, a geological museum and a zoological museum. It is commonly referred to as just Artis, because the zoo has three gates with Artis Natura Magistra written above them (as shown on the picture). Usually only the first gate was open, so people who walked through that gate, looked what was written above it and saw 'Artis', thinking that the zoo was just called Artis. Soon few still knew it as Artis Natura Magistra and so it became known as Artis.
It was where the last ever quagga on the planet in captivity was held before it died in 1883.
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Coordinates: 52.366205° N 4.915954° E
