How did Amsterdam get started? This city of dams, dikes, canals and bridges began with a dam on the river Amstel. In this video a dynamic map shows how Amsterdam expanded.

The map shows the origins of the city, from a small settlement on the banks of the River Amstel, the construction of the seventeenth-century ring of canals, the nineteenth-century expansion, the Berlage plan and the post-war development of the city.

The Amsterdam Museum uses this video in a number of interactive educational programmes about the history of the city.

http://www.amsterdammuseum.nl

The video was made by Mapping History.

http://www.mappinghistory.nl