Rokin

Rokin is a major street in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Originally it was part of the river Amstel, and was known then as Rak-in (a rak is an old Dutch word for a straight body of water). When the quays along the Rokin were constructed in 1913, they were named after the water which they adjoined.

The Rokin begins at Muntplein square and ends at Dam square. In 1936, the part between Spui square and Dam square was filled in. On the remaining part of the water, canal boats are now moored.

During the on-going construction of the North-South line, a new metro line, archeologists will dig down to a depth of approximately 20 meters on the Rokin. The archeological finds in what used to be the Amstel river are expected to shed new light on the history of Amsterdam and on the landscape and environment of the area in the millennia that preceded the founding of the city.

The Mirakelkolom, which normally stands on the Rokin, has been temporarily removed during the construction of the metro line. The Mirakelkolom is a stone column made up of remnants of the Heilige Stede (Nieuwezijds Kapel), a chapel built to commemorate the 1345 Mirakel van Amsterdam (Miracle of the Host). The chapel was demolished in 1908.

Amsterdam's first commodities exchange was built in 1608-1609 at the corner of the Rokin and Dam Square. The commodities exchange, designed by Hendrick de Keyser, played a key part in the economic success of the city during the Dutch Golden Age. The building was demolished in 1835.

A fire in the Rokin on May 9, 1977, claimed 33 deaths.

Notable buildings

• Arti et Amicitiae, an artists' society and art gallery at the corner of Rokin and Spui, constructed in 1841 and designed in part by Berlage.
• The former offices of The Marine Insurance Company Limited at Rokin 69, a Jugendstil building from 1901 designed by Gerrit van Arkel.
• Tobacco shop Hajenius at Rokin 92-96, royal purveyor of cigars and other tobacco goods since 1826. Both the building from 1914 and the richly decorated interior were designed by the brothers van Gendt, sons of the prominent 19th century architect Adolf Leonard van Gendt.
• The Allard Pierson Museum for antiquities, on the Oude Turfmarkt, in the former headquarters of the Nederlandsche Bank, the Dutch central bank.
• Magazijn De Gouden Bril, the oldest remaining optician on the Netherlands, at Rokin 72. There is a statue of a monkey with binoculars on the rooftop.
• The house of Pieter Janszoon Sweelinck, son of composer and organ player Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, at Rokin 145, built in 1642/1643 under the direction of Philip Vingboons, with a splendid example of a raised neck-gable at the top of the building.
• Hotel de l'Europe, at the corner of Nieuwe Doelenstraat and Rokin, an imposing building from 1895/96.

Transport

Construction is in progress on the Rokin metro station on the North-South line (No. 52) of the Amsterdam Metro.

Rokin is served by tram lines 4, 9, 14, 16, 24 & 25.