Nieuwmarkt

At the bottom of the Zeedijk and bordering the Red Light District lies Nieuwmarkt Square and the brooding Waag, or weigh house, a former city gate. The area has been a marketplace since the 17th century, with vendors selling cheese, herbs, cloth, and fish, as well as spices brought back from the ships of the Dutch East India Company. Public executions and other gruesome punishments took place here as well, supplying cadavers to the Surgeon's Guild for dissection. (This is where Rembrandt came to watch Professor Tulp in action before painting The Anatomy Lesson.) During WWII, the Nieuwmarkt was known for a flourishing black market and as a collection point where Jews were held before being shipped off to concentration camps. Today it's a popular square, ringed by restaurants and cafés. There's a farmers' market every Saturday and occasional antiques and curiosities sales. After the hustle and bustle of the Red Light District, this square and the neighborhood around it are a refreshing break. Due east is a cluster of less-touristy, canal-lined streets (the Rechtboomssloot is especially scenic). Directly south, straight up the Kloveniersburgwal, is the University of Amsterdam, in myriad lovely old buildings along and between the canals.