Description of the attraction
The capital of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Amsterdam is a city on the water. It is located at the confluence of two rivers, the Amstel and Ey, in addition, the Amstel forms an extensive network of canals and channels. Bridges play an important role in the life of such a city - there are more than one and a half thousand of them in Amsterdam. Many of these bridges have become city landmarks, a kind of visiting cards of the city. Tourists visiting Amsterdam should definitely walk over these historic bridges and take pictures on them.
One of the most famous bridges in Amsterdam is called the Membrane Bridge, a white wooden drawbridge. It was built in 1691 and was so narrow that the townspeople immediately called it Skinny Bridge. According to legend, the construction of the bridge was ordered by two sisters who lived on different banks of the Amstel River, but there was not enough money, and to save money, they had to build a very narrow bridge.
This bridge stood for almost 200 years and in 1871 was replaced by a new one, also made of wood. The new replacement was required after 50 years. A project was proposed for a stone-and-steel bridge, but the city council rejected it, and a similar bridge was built again.
The modern Skinny Bridge was built in 1934. The skinny bridge is a drawbridge, and until 1994 it was raised manually, now it is done by automatic equipment. You have to breed it quite often, because boat traffic in this part of the city is very busy. Small excursion boats pass under the bridge spans.
Since 2003, road traffic has been prohibited on the bridge, the bridge is open only for pedestrians and cyclists. Illumination turns on on the bridge at night.
