The Amstelpark is a park in

Amsterdam-Zuid Amsterdam-Zuid (; Amsterdam South) is a Boroughs of Amsterdam, borough (''stadsdeel'') of Amsterdam, Netherlands. The borough was formed in 2010 as a merger of the former boroughs Amsterdam Oud-Zuid, Oud-Zuid and Zuideramstel. The borough has almo ...

. The park includes a labyrinth, a café, a restaurant, two galleries, an

orangery An orangery or orangerie is a room or dedicated building, historically where orange and other fruit trees are protected during the winter, as a large form of greenhouse or conservatory. In the modern day an orangery could refer to either ...

, a petting zoo and a mini-golf course.

Background

The Amstelpark was built and opened for the 1972 Floriade gardening exhibition. The park has its own train line, the Amstel train, which runs through the Rosarium, the

rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; : ''rhododendra'') is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the Ericaceae, heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are native to eastern Asia and the Himalayan ...

valley and the Riekermolen. The park contains a variety of plant species from around the world, including a "rhododendron valley" with about 139 species of rhododendrons, blooming in April and May. At one point, the park lost about 30 percent of its larger trees due to disease. The park contains a Japanese Garden, which was renovated in 2001 at the time of the celebration of the 400-year relationship between the Netherlands and Japan. The Riekermolen windmill lies south of the Amstelpark. Built in 1636 it originally stood in the Riekerpolder near Sloten. In 1932 it was replaced by a motorized pumping station. The mill was removed in 1956 when the Nieuwe Meer was enlarged as a sand pit. The city council decided to rebuild the mill on the west side of the Amstel in 1961. A statue of

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (; ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), mononymously known as Rembrandt was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and Drawing, draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in ...

is located next to the windmill. He often sketched the landscape along the Amstel river.

References

External links

Amstel Park information
{{Amsterdam Parks in Amsterdam Amsterdam-Zuid 1972 establishments in the Netherlands