Westersingel

The Sculpture Route along Westersingel is a lovely walk by a canal featuring various artworks from Rotterdam’s International Sculpture Collection. Westersingel is located about 200 meters from the Central Train Station.

On this approximately one-kilometer-long walk, you can admire sculptures by famous artists like Pablo Picasso, Joel Shapiro, Umberto Mastroianni, Paul McCarthy, and Auguste Rodin.

The Sculpture Route is part of Rotterdam’s well-known “Cultural Axis.”

One of the pathways on Westersingel leads to the Museumpark and the Depot, while going the other way takes you to Witte de Withstraat, a street with art galleries, museums, and boutique shops.

The Museumpark houses some of the city’s top museums, such as the Kunsthal and the Boijmans Van Beuningen.

On this link, you can see a map of Westersingel with the sculptures displayed on this popular canal. It’s best to open it on a computer since the document is quite large.

Until the early 19th century, the city was confined within its walls. Industries that couldn’t fit inside the walls were established in the area now occupied by this canal.

There were also many orchards and houses for the less wealthy people. Later, much of this area was taken up by mansions belonging to the city’s wealthy residents.

In the mid-19th century, William Rose proposed a canal plan that resulted in the demolition of the mansions and gardens, turning Westersingel into the western limit of the city.

During the latter half of the 19th century, the avenue once again became home to mansions, and some of them are still standing today.

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