Stamped!

Gateway to Europe

Rotterdam architecture

Rotterdam's story began around 1270 with a dam on the river Rotte, which gave the city its name. After the German bombing of 1940 destroyed most of the old centre, the city reinvented itself as a showcase of bold modern architecture, and today it is also home to Europe's largest seaport.

  • 15Landmarks
  • 1525Oldest · Grote of Sint-Laurenskerk
  • 185 mTallest · Euromast
  • 11Architects

Before you go

  • Fly intoRotterdam The Hague (RTM)

    Rotterdam The Hague Airport sits about 5.5 kilometres from the city and serves both Rotterdam and The Hague. Known for years as Zestienhoven, it officially opened in October 1956 and handled over two million passengers in 2019.

  • CurrencyEuro (€)
  • LanguageDutch

    Dutch is the official language and the one you will hear in shops, trams and markets. The city is also remarkably international, home to people of more than 180 different nationalities.

  • Getting aroundRET Metro

    Rotterdam opened the first metro line in the Netherlands in 1968, a short 5.9 kilometre route that tunnelled beneath the Nieuwe Maas. Today RET runs metro, tram and bus services across the region, and trams even glide over the Erasmus Bridge alongside cars, bikes and pedestrians.

  • Where to stayFind hotels in Rotterdam on Expedia Vacation rentals on Vrbo

    Stamped! may earn a commission when you book through these links.

  • Tours and ticketsFind tours in Rotterdam on GetYourGuide More tours on Viator

    Skip-the-line tickets and guided tours of the landmarks. Stamped! may earn a commission.

15 landmarks in Rotterdam

  1. Markthal

    Dominee Jan Scharpstraat, Rotterdam, Netherlands

    This giant arch of apartments wraps around a covered food market, combining homes, shops and a market hall in one building. Designed by MVRDV and opened by Queen Máxima in October 2014, it holds 228 apartments above the stalls. The inside of the vault is covered by an 11,000 square metre artwork by Arno Coenen and Iris Roskam called Horn of Plenty. Its glass end walls hang from a steel cable net, the largest structure of its kind in Europe. Archaeologists even found a tenth-century farm buried seven metres below the site during construction.

    Built
    2014
    Architect
    MVRDV
    Height
    40 m (131 ft)
    Stories
    11
    Today
    Market Hall & Apartments
  2. Cube Houses
    Photo: GraphyArchy, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Cube Houses

    Overblaak, Rotterdam, Netherlands

    Piet Blom tipped ordinary cubes onto their corners and perched them on hexagonal pylons, creating one of Rotterdam's most photographed sights. Completed in 1984 above Blaak station on Overblaak, the complex links 38 small cubes and two larger 'super-cubes' into what locals call the 'Blaak forest'. Blom's idea was 'living as an urban roof', freeing the ground below for village-like public space. Inside, the walls and windows lean at 54.7 degrees, and one resident runs a furnished 'show cube' so visitors can see how people actually live there.

    Built
    1984
    Architect
    Piet Blom
    Stories
    3
    Today
    Residence & Hostel
  3. Erasmus Bridge
    Photo: Martin Falbisoner, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Erasmus Bridge

    Erasmusbrug, Rotterdam, Netherlands

    Nicknamed 'De Zwaan' (The Swan) for its elegantly bent white pylon, this bridge has become the symbol of modern Rotterdam and even appears in the city's logo. Ben van Berkel's design combines a cable-stayed span with a bascule section, stretching 802 metres across the Nieuwe Maas. The structure rises 139 metres, and the deck carries tram tracks, traffic lanes, cycle paths and sidewalks side by side. Queen Beatrix opened it in September 1996, and engineers soon added stronger dampers after the deck was found to sway in high winds.

    Built
    1996
    Architect
    Ben van Berkel
    Height
    139 m (456 ft)
    Today
    Bridge
  4. De Rotterdam
    Photo: Fred Romero from Paris, France, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    De Rotterdam

    Wilhelminakade, Rotterdam, Netherlands

    Designed by OMA in 1998 and finished at the end of 2013, this huge complex stands on the Wilhelminapier between the KPN Tower and the cruise terminal. It rises 45 floors to about 151 metres. Its roughly 160,000 square metres of offices, hotel rooms and apartments made it the largest building in the Netherlands. The City of Rotterdam, its biggest tenant, received the keys in November 2013.

    Built
    2013
    Architect
    Rem Koolhaas (OMA)
    Style
    Modernism
    Height
    151 m (496 ft)
    Stories
    45
    Today
    Offices, Hotel & Apartments
  5. Euromast
    Photo: F.Eveleens, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Euromast

    Parkhaven 20, 3016 GM Rotterdam, Netherlands

    Built for the 1960 Floriade garden exhibition, Hugh Maaskant's concrete tower stands on a heavy foundation block that keeps its centre of gravity below ground. Its 'crow's nest' platform sits 96 metres up, and in 1970 the Space Tower extension pushed the total height past 184 metres. For decades it was the tallest structure in the Netherlands, until De Zalmhaven overtook it in 2021. A listed monument since 2010, it houses a restaurant and has even hosted BASE-jumping events.

    Built
    1960
    Architect
    Hugh Maaskant
    Style
    Modernism
    Height
    185 m (606 ft)
    Today
    Observation Tower & Hotel
  6. Rotterdam Centraal
    Photo: Spoorjan, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Rotterdam Centraal

    Stationsplein, Rotterdam, Netherlands

    Rotterdam's main railway station was completely rebuilt in the early 2010s as the city's grand front door. Team CS, a collaboration of Benthem Crouwel, MVSA and West 8, designed the new building, which King Willem-Alexander reopened in March 2014. It replaced Sybold van Ravesteyn's 1957 station, and the old 'Centraal Station' lettering was brought back at the request of Rotterdam's citizens. Around 112,000 passengers passed through every day in 2019.

    Built
    2014
    Architect
    Benthem Crouwel, MVSA and West 8
    Today
    Train Station
  7. Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen
    Photo: F.Eveleens, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen

    Museumpark 24, Rotterdam, Netherlands

    This shimmering, bowl-shaped building is covered entirely in reflective panels. Designed by MVRDV, it is the world's first publicly accessible art depot, letting visitors wander among the entire stored collection of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. The 39.5 metre tall 'Pot' was famously inspired by a cheap steel serving bowl that sat on the table during early design talks. King Willem-Alexander opened it in November 2021.

    Built
    2021
    Architect
    MVRDV
    Height
    40 m (130 ft)
    Stories
    7
    Today
    Art Depot & Museum
  8. Van Nelle Factory
    Photo: F.Eveleens, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Van Nelle Factory

    Van Nelleweg 1, Rotterdam, Netherlands

    Le Corbusier called this glass-and-steel factory 'the most beautiful spectacle of the modern age', and it remains an icon of functionalist design. Built between 1925 and 1931 by Leendert van der Vlugt of the Brinkman & Van der Vlugt office, it processed coffee, tea and tobacco for decades. Its curtain walls are claimed to be the first industrially prefabricated ones in the world. After production stopped in 1996 it was converted into offices and event spaces, and UNESCO named it a World Heritage Site in 2014.

    Built
    1931
    Architect
    Leendert van der Vlugt & Johannes Brinkman
    Style
    Nieuwe Bouwen
    Today
    Offices & Event Venue
  9. Rotterdam City Hall
    Photo: F.Eveleens, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Rotterdam City Hall

    Coolsingel 40, 3011 AD Rotterdam, Netherlands

    Henri Evers won a contested design competition for this stately town hall, whose 71 metre clock tower rises from the centre of its Coolsingel facade. Queen Wilhelmina attended the laying of the foundation stone in 1915, and the building was inaugurated in 1920. It is one of the few buildings in central Rotterdam that survived the bombing of 14 May 1940. Recognised as a national monument since 2000, it remains the seat of the city's government.

    Built
    1920
    Architect
    Henri Evers
    Style
    Renaissance Revival
    Height
    71 m (233 ft)
    Today
    City Hall
  10. Witte Huis
    Photo: Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

    Witte Huis

    Wijnhaven 3, Rotterdam, Netherlands

    When it was completed in 1898, this ten-storey Art Nouveau office block was an unprecedented height for Europe and is often called the continent's first high-rise. Architect Willem Molenbroek had to sink 1,000 piles into Rotterdam's soft soil before construction could begin. Iron, steel and concrete were used instead of wood, partly out of fear of fire. The 43 metre 'White House' survived the wartime bombing and is now a national monument.

    Built
    1898
    Architect
    Willem Molenbroek
    Style
    Art Nouveau
    Height
    43 m (141 ft)
    Stories
    10
    Today
    Office
  11. Hotel New York
    Photo: F.Eveleens, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Hotel New York

    Koninginnenhoofd 1, Rotterdam, Netherlands

    This grand building in the Kop van Zuid was once the head office of the Holland America Line, which also offered temporary lodging to European emigrants heading overseas. When air travel replaced the ocean liners it fell into decline, and squatters moved in in 1988. Entrepreneurs Daan van der Have and Hans Loos, with designer Dorine de Vos, transformed it into a hotel that opened in 1993. A national heritage site since 2000, it still evokes the romance of the old transatlantic crossings.

    Built
    1917
    Style
    Art Nouveau
    Today
    Hotel
  12. Grote of Sint-Laurenskerk
    Photo: GraphyArchy, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Grote of Sint-Laurenskerk

    Grotekerkplein 15, Rotterdam, Netherlands

    Rotterdam's great church is the only remnant of the medieval city and was its first building made entirely of stone. Built as a Catholic church between 1449 and 1525, it became Protestant after the Reformation in 1572. The German bombing of May 1940 left only the tower and walls standing. Restoration began in 1952 and finished in 1968, and the rebuilt church became a symbol of the city's resilience.

    Built
    1525
    Architect
    Unknown (medieval builders)
    Style
    Late Gothic
    Height
    65 m (213 ft)
    Today
    Church
  13. Kunsthal
    Photo: Jeffrey Beall, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Kunsthal

    Westzeedijk 341, 3015 AA Rotterdam, Netherlands

    Rem Koolhaas and OMA designed this art hall on the edge of the Museumpark, next to the natural history museum. Opened in 1992, it has no permanent collection and instead stages a constantly changing programme across seven exhibition spaces. The entrance sits on top of the Westzeedijk dike, where it becomes a crossing point and meeting place for passers-by. The building hit global headlines in 2012 when seven paintings, including works by Monet and Picasso, were stolen in a night-time raid.

    Built
    1992
    Architect
    Rem Koolhaas (OMA)
    Today
    Exhibition Hall

  14. Timmerhuis

    Zandstraat, Rotterdam, Netherlands

    OMA's stepped, pixel-like towers rise out of the post-war municipal offices that J.R.A. Koops designed for the city's building department. OMA's competition-winning design has been described as 'a building like a kind of cloud'. Opened in December 2015, the complex combines offices, shops and apartments with terraced roof gardens, rising to 60 metres. A public passage through its atrium links Haagseveer with Rodezand.

    Built
    2015
    Architect
    OMA & J.R.A. Koops
    Style
    Modernism
    Height
    60 m (197 ft)
    Stories
    14
    Today
    Offices, Retail & Apartments
  15. Schielandshuis
    Photo: MatteoNL97, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Schielandshuis

    Korte Hoogstraat 31, Rotterdam, Netherlands

    Built between 1662 and 1665 by Jacob Lois and Pieter Post, this mansion is the only building from the Dutch Golden Age still standing in Rotterdam. It is one of just two pre-19th-century buildings in the centre to survive the 1940 bombing, alongside the Laurenskerk. The mansion housed the Boymans Museum from 1849 and was gutted by a fire in 1864 that destroyed two-thirds of the collection. Restored after 1978 to recreate its 17th-century look, it later served as Museum Rotterdam and a tourist information centre.

    Built
    1665
    Architect
    Jacob Lois & Pieter Post
    Today
    Vacant

Know Rotterdam well?

Locals know their city best. Suggest a landmark we're missing or a fix to one we have. Every suggestion is checked against a source before it goes into the app.

I'm suggesting

Opens your email app with this filled in, addressed to [email protected].

More cities in Europe

Stamp all 15 in Stamped!

Fly through Rotterdam in photoreal 3D, take its 10-question quiz, plan your days and earn a passport stamp at every landmark. Free on iPhone and iPad.

Download on theApp Store