Amsterdam archaeology depot & Rotterdam bomb shelter among many sites open this weekend

Thousands of monuments in the Netherlands will be open to the public, free of charge, on Saturday and Sunday for Open Monument Day. Visitors can, among other things, check out a nuclear bomb shelter in Rotterdam, ride a historic tram in The Hague, explore a tunnel under one of Amsterdam’s famous canals, or examine the artifacts in the capital city’s archeological depot.

This weekend is the 38th edition of Open Monument Day, which is spread over two days to give participants more time to explore. According to the organizers, around 6,000 monuments will open their doors to the public on Saturday and Sunday under the theme of “Routes, networks, and connection.” Many are also organizing events like exhibitions, tours, or musical performances. A full list of open monuments and activities can be found on the organization’s website.

In Amsterdam, people can visit the Poentunnel under the Keizersgracht. The tunnel connects two old bank buildings on Vijzelstraat and is, as far as is known, the only tunnel to run under an Amsterdam canal. ABN, now ABN Amro, built the tunnel in 1974 to connect two of its buildings. It is 3.5 meters wide and 50 meters long and hasn’t been in use since 1999.

It is unclear why the bank built the tunnel, but it ended up being mainly used by bank directors to get from one building to another without having to drive, Anna Peschier, an architectural historian at the city’s Monuments and Archeology department, told AT5.

People in Amsterdam can also visit the city’s archeological depot at Bornhout 8. The depot contains everything from bricks to ornaments of coffins, chunks of stone, anchors, soap barrels, metal toys, cesspool remains, and soil samples. “We keep this as evidence that is, can, or will be used for scientific research,” depot manager Ron Tousain told Parool. “There is a lot of interest in cesspool remains. Volunteers pick them apart with tweezers. Look, a fishbone, beef bones, then you know what they ate.”

In Rotterdam, people can explore a nuclear fallout bunker on Westzeedijk. The shelter was built early in the Cold War and was one of 17 bunkers Rotterdam had prepared in the 1950s. This one could protect 50 people against atomic, bacteriological, or chemical attacks for up to 48 hours.

The Hague Public Transport Museum will offer rides in the city center in approximately 30 historic trams, the oldest of which dates from 1905. People in The Hague can visit nearly 90 monuments, ranging from the historic Kloosterkerk built in 1400 to the former United States embassy from 1957.

Utrecht is opening the recently renovated Dom Tower for Open Monument Day. There will be various tours, and bell ringers will explain the mechanisms of the tower’s bells.

Elsewhere in the Netherlands, people can visit the former broadcasting studio of Radio Kootwijk (Gelderland), Heewsijk Castle in Heeswijk-Dinther (Noord-Brabant), and Fort Rammekens (1547) in Ritthem (Zeeland), among many others.