Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Stopera
With the Dutch penchant for
clever wordplay, the Stadhuis-
Muziektheater is better known
as ”Stopera” because it
combines the stadhuis (town
hall) with the headquarters of
the city opera and ballet
companies. A brutal design in
red brick, marble and glass, it
was built in 1987 amid intense
controversy, since scores of
medieval houses, among
Jodenbuurt's few remnants, had
to be destroyed in the process.
In the passage between Stopera's
two buildings, a bronze button
indicates the exact NAP ( Normaal
Amsterdams Peil ) water level. d
Waterlooplein 22 Map Q5 Stadhuis:
020 552 9111. Open 8.30am-3:30pm
Mon-Fri, 5-7pm Thu (Arcade open 24hrs
daily) Muziektheater: 020 625 5455
Joods Historisch Museum
are the Holy Ark (1791), focus of
the Nieuwe Synagoge, the
illuminated Haggadah manuscript
(1734), and Elias Bouman's airy
17th-century Grote Synagoge
(see pp48-9) . d Jonas Daniel
Meijerplein 2-4 Map Q5 020 626 9945
www.jhm.nl Open 11am-5pm daily
Closed Yom Kippur Admission charge
Joods Historisch Museum
Abel Cahen's prize-winning
design for the Jewish Historical
Museum (1987) is a perfect
marriage of old and new: the
four synagogues that house it,
built by Ashkenazi Jews during
the 17th and 18th centuries, are
linked by glass-covered internal
walkways. Highlights of the
exhibition, which is concerned
with all aspects of Jewish life,
Portugees-Israëlitische
Synagoge
The Sephardic Jews, who settled
in Amsterdam from the late 16th
century, celebrated their new
lives in a tolerant society a
century later by commissioning
Elias Bouman to build this
imposing synagogue. It follows a
traditional design with the
Hechal (Holy Ark), facing
Jerusalem, opposite the tebah,
from where the cantor leads the
service (see p48) . d Mr Visserplein 3
Map R5 020 624 5351
www.esnoga.com Open Apr-Oct:
10am-4pm Sun-Fri; Nov-Mar: 10am-4pm
Sun-Thu, 10-3pm Fri Closed Sat &
Jewish hols Admission charge
Modern-day Tolerance
In line with Amsterdam's long
tradition of tolerance, the
authorities generally overlook the
possession and consumption of
small quantities of cannabis or
marijuana, although they are
illegal. Their sale and use at
regulated coffee shops (see p51)
is officially accepted, but hard
drugs and advertising are not. In
1990, brothels and the display of
girls in their windows were
legalized, although street
prostitution remains illegal.
Hash Marihuana Hemp
Museum
Seen through a cloud of incense,
exhibits in this tiny but
fascinating museum chart the
history of hemp (marijuana) from
its earliest use some 8,000 years
ago to the 20th-century drug
78
 
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