The Destroyed City
The Destroyed City
4.5
Tours & experiences
Explore different ways to experience this place.
Full view
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
Top ways to experience The Destroyed City
The area
Address
Neighbourhood: Stadsdriehoek
How to get there
- Beurs • 2 min walk
- Leuvehaven • 6 min walk
Reach out directly
Best nearby
We rank these restaurants and attractions by balancing reviews from our members with how close they are to this location.
Restaurants
1,928 within 5 kms
Attractions
370 within 10 kms
Contribute
Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
We perform checks on reviews.
Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Learn more about our review moderation.
4.5
254 reviews
Excellent
119
Very good
96
Average
36
Poor
3
Terrible
0
These reviews have been automatically translated from their original language.
This service may contain translations provided by Google. Google disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to translations, including any warranties of accuracy, reliability, and any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and freedom from forgery.
PATO-BETO
San Martin, Argentina19,901 contributions
May 2024 • Couples
An emotional sculpture that we could see as we toured Rotterdam. Made in bronze in 1953, it symbolizes the German bombing that destroyed the medieval city during World War II. A figure almost seven meters high, arms raised, with expression of terror and a hole in the center of the chest.
Automatically translated
Written 29 June 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hermes_NL 🇳🇱
Amsterdam, The Netherlands21,534 contributions
Mar 2019 • Business
This highly symbolic sculpture was made by the prolific French/Russian artist Ossip Zadkine in 1953. It symbolizes the heart if the city of Rotterdam, destroyed by German bombs in 1940, to force the capitulation of the Netherlands. It has a prominent location at the Maritime museum. Many schools in the Netherlands were named after Zadkine.
Written 7 March 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dimitris L
Sydney, Australia50,924 contributions
Sept 2018 • Couples
A monument to the fallen in the bombing and devastation of Rotterdam during World War 2. A six metre high bronze statue of a human figure, weighing three tonnes. The sculptor of this art work, Ossip Zadkine described his design as 'a cry of horror for the human monster, who devised the executioner's work in order to let his brothers pay for a crime they did not commit'. This is a symbol of pain, horror, helplessness, desperation, man's inhumanity to man..... It speaks to all of us perhaps in different ways. You can't fail to see the horror and desperation, however! When it was unveiled, in the 1950s, it caused a bit of controversy, but it still stands there today, as a stark reminder about human history and the lessons people still have not learnt! This is a must see!
Written 7 February 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
KodoDrummer
Buenos Aires, Argentina70,626 contributions
May 2018 • Friends
This is a city that was destroyed by the war. As a memorial, there is a large, six-metre high, three-ton, bronze statue of a body with an open heart area, i.e., a body with a lost heart. It signifies the devastation brought to the city by heavy bombardment by the Nazi-German military during World War II.
Rotterdam is the second largest city in the Netherlands and is home to the largest port in Europe. The city’s name comes from the dam that empties into the river in the center of the city. The urban area is more than 200 square kilometers and the port area more than 100 square kilometers. Most of the city had to be rebuilt after World War II.
Rotterdam is the second largest city in the Netherlands and is home to the largest port in Europe. The city’s name comes from the dam that empties into the river in the center of the city. The urban area is more than 200 square kilometers and the port area more than 100 square kilometers. Most of the city had to be rebuilt after World War II.
Written 5 June 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Nimish Goray
Pune, India524 contributions
Feb 2014 • Solo
The sculpture "Destroyed city" is a poignant reminder of the damage and destruction caused to the city of Rotterdam because of Nazi bombing during WWII. Almost every Dutch city and town has a Grote markt or grand place or the physical "heart of the city" which is unfortunately absent in Rotterdam as it was destroyed during the air raids. The statue symbolizes the loss of the city's character which could be also regarded as it's "heart". Magnificent sculpture by Zadkine.
Written 21 February 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
659marvinj
7 contributions
Nov 2015 • Business
I was looking for a city destroyed but all I see are sculptures and a pretty fine city. They look good, they don't look destroyed to me. Wrong name for a place, buddy.
Written 8 February 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
nbxprez
London, UK47 contributions
June 2014 • Couples
To understand Rotterdam, you need only look at Zadkine's statue. The missing heart and the agony of the figure are simple metaphors for the German bombing in 1940 and connect directly to other towns and cities that have been destroyed by bombing - Guernica, Dresden and Coventry to name but three. I was shown this memorial in 1961 as a small child and it's impact has never diminished. Then it stood on a newly-built square (Plein 1940) opposite the Gerzon store and all around was a building site. Now it's hemmed in by huge modern buildings which are testament to the regeneration of the city. It is important to visit this place and pause to consider the inhumanity of the indiscriminate bombing of civilians.
Written 19 June 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Neuteboom
The Hague, The Netherlands1,156 contributions
Feb 2013 • Couples
When you walk from the Blaak subway station to the Erasmus Bridge, check out this very emotional experience, on a small square in front of the Maritiem Museum. This sculpture by Zadkine reminds me of Guernica by Picasso, another legendary emotional piece of art that shows the agony of war. The great thing about the Zadkine sculpture is that it perfectly symbolizes the situation in 1940 after the center of Rotterdam was bombed by the nazi’s: a huge hole in the body of the sculpture that points at the fact that Rotterdam had lost its heart after the nazi bombing in 1940, shivers down my spine!
Written 21 February 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Patrícia M
330 contributions
Oct 2019 • Solo
I ran into this sculpture on my way to the markthal in the city centre. What a powerful image! Near the port
Written 14 October 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
FedericoNovara
Novara13 contributions
Aug 2018 • Solo
The sculpture "Destroyed city" was given to Rotterdam by Ossip Zadkin in early 1950s. The decision to create it was taken when he arrived by train in the devastated city of Rotterdam in 1946. It is, in his own words: ‘A cry of horror against the inhuman brutality of this act of tyranny.’ The hole in the figure symbolises the destroyed heart of the city during the bombardments of May 14th, 1940.
Written 27 August 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
No questions have been asked about this experience
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing