Centraal Station, Amsterdam

Centraal Station is Amsterdam’s grand railway station, designed by Pierre Cuypers and opened in 1889. Its façade combines Gothic and Renaissance Revival influences, giving the building a richly decorated, almost palace-like presence. Cuypers also designed the Rijksmuseum, and the resemblance between the two buildings is deliberate and striking.

Look at the station’s paired towers: they were intended to make the building read as a new gateway to the city. The eastern tower contains a clock, while the western tower carries a weather vane. Stone reliefs and other decorative details express Amsterdam’s commercial and industrial importance, while the building also includes a royal waiting room still used by the Dutch monarchy.

The station stands on artificial islands created in the IJ, supported by 8,687 wooden piles. Its great platform roof was designed by civil engineer L.J. Eijmer rather than Cuypers; fifty curved trusses span almost 45 metres.

The station opened on 15 October 1889 amid enormous public interest. Today it handles about 192,000 passengers each day and serves trains, metro, trams, buses and ferries, making this elaborate gateway a working transport hub as well as a Rijksmonument.