When walking along the Dam square you will recognize an elegant 19th century building, situated behind the Royal Palace at the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 182, which nowadays serves as one of the few shopping malls in Amsterdam – the Magna Plaza. This is the place to shop for designer clothing and fashion accessories.

The building

The Magna Plaza building has been designed in the Neo-Gothic style by the Dutch architect P.C. Peters and it got constructed from 1895-1899 on no less than 4560 poles. This was just at the time, when another famous Dutch architect, P.J.H. Cuypers, completed the construction of the Rijksmuseum (1885) and the Central Station (1889), both full of historical references in their architecture.

In 1992 it was put on the list of the ten most important buildings in Amsterdam. The citizens of Amsterdam gave the building the name ‘Perenburg’, which means something like ‘Pear castle’, due to the fact that the building has pear-shaped towers.

The former main post office building was transformed into the shopping mall Magna Plaza in the year 1992.

Shopping at the Magna Plaza

The Magna Plaza is a nice, small shopping mall. Just in the middle of the ground floor, a grand piano is welcoming customers with life music during the weekends or holidays. To the right from the entry you may find the shop with souvenirs from Holland and to the left a kiosk with Dutch cheese and a choices of wine.

At the third floor of the Magna Plaza all major world fashion brands are represented.

Nevertheless you can find some more casual shops as the Spanish women’s clothes brand Mango, American casual clothes – America Today and the GSUS jeans shop. For everyone interested in elegant clothes and shoes the upper floors are a must to visit.

Two good interior shops, a DVD’s shop with all artsy European titles you might need, a Svarovski boutique, several gift shops, a shop with traditional wooden toys (Pinokkio) and RDLFS (Rudolpho’s) – a skater’s shops with clothes, shoes and boards, will try to meet your individual convenience!

If you get hungry or thirsty, you might want to check out the Italian style brasserie Ovidius– on the ground floor and the Italian coffee bar Ristretto – on the top floor.

The Magna Plaza is easy to reach from Amsterdam’s Central Station by taking the tram lines 1, 2, 5, 13, 14, 17 and 20 or the bus 21, 170, 171 and 172, with the stop just in front of the building.

Opening hours

Monday, 11am – 7pm
Tuesday - Wednesday, 10am – 7pm
Thursday, 10am – 9pm
Friday – Saturday, 10am – 7pm
Sunday, 12am – 7pm