“And the Lord said unto Johan, build for thee an ark for the end of the world is approaching.”

This hotel was once home to a steamliner company and became the final rest stop for Europeans heading to the New World.

A bridge that has seen many reiterations over its lifetime.

The oldest skyscraper of Europe now stands dwarfed by the surrounding structures.

These slanted cubic abodes are a creative if odd solution to a zoning pickle.

Old ships and machinery fill a historic harbor in the city that's home to Europe's largest port.

A modern reimagining of a medieval city gate.

A dramatic art installation features a BMW flying out of a building in Rotterdam.

An enormous Polaroid picture adds an artistic flair to Rotterdam.

From afar it looks like someone's hat blew into the water, but closer inspection reveals a giant floating sculpture.

Four giant movable street lights decorate this modern Rotterdam square.

Rotterdammers' dirty minds gave this santa a dirty nickname and cursed it to a life of wandering.

Now a museum, this building was once a 14th-century monastery and the place where the founder of the Dutch nation lived and was assassinated.

The largest 19th century panorama in the world still in-situ.

A miniature city, once ruled by the Queen of the Netherlands.

Once the world's biggest telescope, it was later used as a coat hanger by a famous Dutch astronomer.

For over 100 years the most important physicists in the world have autographed this university wall.

A 'living museum' in Leiden, the oldest of its kind in the Netherlands.

A massive explosion that leveled hundreds of buildings in the city of Leiden is remembered by a waterside plaque.

A trio of red, white, and blue stones embedded in the streets of Leiden are markers of medieval territory and law.

An ancient Egyptian temple sits within a modern European museum.

This 11th-century castle sits so low you can't see it behind the surrounding buildings.

Only a few walls remain of the last church the Pilgrims used before they sailed to North America.

A former plague hospital turned medical museum.