The Rokin is a canal and major street in the centre of Amsterdam. The street runs from Muntplein square to Dam square. The Rokin canal used to run from Muntplein square to Dam Square, but in 1936, the part between Spui square and Dam Square was filled in. Canal boats are now moored on the remaining part of the water, from the Amstel to Grimburgwal.
History
Originally the Rokin was a section of the river Amstel, and was known then as Ruck-in. 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. During the ongoing construction of the North-South line, a new metro line, archeologists dug 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, was temporarily removed during the construction of the metro line. The Mirakelkolom is a stone column made up of remnants of the Heilige Stede, a chapel built to commemorate the 1345 Mirakel van Amsterdam. The chapel was demolished in 1908. 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.
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.
Magazijn De Gouden Bril, the oldest remaining optician in 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 playerJan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, at Rokin 145, built in 1642/1643 under the direction of Philips Vingboons, with a splendid example of a raised neck-gable at the top of the building.
Hotel de l'Europe, at the corner of the Nieuwe Doelenstraat and the Rokin, an imposing building from 1895/96.
