Het+Spui

=Het Spui=

General Information
Het Spui (or The Spui in English) is a square in central Amsterdam that contains a large number of bookstores, and is generally heavily populated with tourists. The square is also a center for the arts in the city of Amsterdam, containing a fair amount of sculptures and famous artistic works. The most famous of these is in the center of the square itself, called Het Lieverdje (or The Little Darling). This sculpture was made in 1960, and is now a symbol and important marker of The Spui. Het Spui is a largely auto-free zone, with a fair amount of tram stops either in the square itself or just outside.

Today, Het Spui is the home to a weekly book fair every Friday, at which merchants and vendors from all around the Netherlands congregate. They then set up their own individual stalls, and proceed to deal in secondhand and rare books. Visitors to this fair will be treated to a wide selection of literary wares from around the Netherlands, and it is open from 10am-6pm every Friday.

Literature and reading has always had a massive role in Europe, as evidenced by the massive collection of classics from the region. The Netherlands is no exception to that rule, with its own fair share of literary history, most of which exists in Dutch (the national language of the Netherlands). While it may seem the same as any other European Country, (progressing from the oral tradition to bible verses and finally into the modern novel) the Netherlands differs specifically in terms of the genre of literature published: a majority of the Dutch literary tradition is comprised of children's books. They place quite a bit of value on their children's literature, and this can be seen as a focal point of any Dutch bookshop including the ones included on Het Spui. Ultimately, regardless of where you go in the world, the role of literature in shaping the community is apparent.