The body of water in front of you was the city’s link to the rich markets of Western Europe via the Amstel River. Traditional history said that Amsterdam started trading in the 1400s and that’s why the population boomed. When the underground Metro station was built here, however, diggers found artifacts from all over Europe at the earliest levels, showing that Amsterdam was always connected to the wider world. Across the water are the buildings of the central campus of the University of Amsterdam.