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Putovanja

/ Travel

pirala Amsterdam, s kanalima i mostovima kakve je tamo

video. Zahvalni potomak, Nikolaj II Romanov poklonio je

1907. gradiću Zandamu spomenik Petru-tesaru koji i sad

stoji na glavnom trgu. Tu je i spomen druge vrste – ploča

na kojoj piše: „Ovde je car Petar prvi put probao pivo.“ Ne

i poslednje u životu, bio je legendarna ispičutura.

Osim petrogradske kolonije na Istoku, Amsterdam je

osnovao još jednu koloniju na Zapadu – Novi Amsterdam,

koji je u novije doba promenio ime u – Njujork. Astorovi,

Vanderbiltovi i Van de Statovi doneli su industrijsku re-

voluciju i moderni kapitalizam na Novi kontinent i kad se

to sve spoji u jedinstvenu sliku, postaje očito – Holandija

je pupak Zapada, njegovo tajno težište. Arkadijski pejzaž

mirne, uredne provincije na reci Zan zavarava. Starinskim

vetrenjačama iz 16. i 17. veka u slikovitom mestašcu Zanse

Shans, krila se više ne okreću, sad je to turistička sceno-

grafija. Okružene su ljupkim kućicama s bogatim vrtovi-

ma i travnjacima na kojima pasu ovčice.

Vetrenjače nisu mlinovi za brašno, a kuće su pansioni

ili restorani s Mišlenovim zvezdicama, muzeji industrije

ili prekomorske trgovine, fabrike porcelana! Sve to za-

jedno ionako već vekovima nema veze s poljoprivredom,

jer je pokrajina Zans prva evropska industrijska zona,

izgrađena po današnjim najvišim ekološkim standardima.

Vetrenjače – bilo ih je nekad gotovo hiljadu – služile su

kao izvor obnovljive energije! Vetrenjače su pokretale

pilane u kojima se proizvodila drvna građa za gradnju

brodova. Prodavali su ih u sve zemlje sveta – holandski

brodovi bili su jeftiniji od ostalih, jer su se izrađivali serij-

ski. Na brodovima su stvorena amsterdamska bogatstva

pa i ono „dinastije“ Van de Stat, koja je uspela u nemogu-

ćoj misiji toliko dragoj Holanđanima: silno bogati, uticaj-

ni, sasvim nepoznati...

built from scavenged ship

plating. Russian Emperor Peter

the Great resided here for a short

time. He travelled to Zaandam in

secret in 1632 and took up emplo-

yment at a local shipyard – as a

carpenter. He decided to learn the

craft of boat building, in which the

Dutch excelled. He left his prime

minister, Prince Menshíkov, in

Amsterdam to learn from the

masters who made the masts.

From these modest carpen-

ters’ houses sprouted the Russian

empire, its navy and industry, at

that time a modern state of We-

stern circles. Peter brought Dutch

construction masters, engineers,

scientists, technologists and

admirals from the Netherlands to

Russia, built an authentic Dutch

village in which he also had a

house, and then – in the marshes

of the Baltic – built a capital that

was a copy of Amsterdam in every

way, with the kinds of canals and

bridges he had seen there. In 1907,

his grateful descendant, Nicholas

II Romanov, gifted to the City of

Zaandam a monument to Peter

– the carpenter who now stands

in the main square. Here there is

a note of another kind – a plaque

that reads: “Here Tsar Peter first

tasted beer”… but not his last, as

he was a legendary drunkard.

In addition to the St Peters-

burg colony to the East, Amster-

dam founded another colony in

the West - New Amsterdam, which

in more recent times changed its

name – to New York. The Astors,

Vanderbilts and Van de Stadts

brought the industrial revolution

and modern capitalism to the new

continent, and when all this is

combined to form a single image,

it becomes obvious – the Nether-

lands is the navel of the West,

its secret centre of gravity. The

Arcadian landscape of a peaceful,

orderly province on the River

Zaan is deceptive. The old-fashi-

oned windmills from the 16

and

centuries in the picturesque

neighbourhood of Zaanse Schans

are wings that no longer turn, and

are now just tourist scenery. They

are surrounded by grandiose ho-

uses with rich gardens and lawns

where sheep graze.

These windmills are not flour

mills, and the houses are bed &

breakfast inns or restaurants with

Michelin stars, museums of indu-

stry or maritime trade, porcelain

factories! None of this has had

anything to do with farming for

centuries, because the province

of Zaan is the first European

industrial zone, built according

to today’s highest environmental

standards. The windmills – there

were once almost a thousand of

them – were used as a source of

renewable energy! The windmills

powered sawmills that produced

timber for shipbuilding. They

sold them in every country in the

world – Dutch ships were cheaper

than others because they were

manufactured en masse. It was on

the back of ships that Amster-

dam’s wealth was created, and

even that Van de Stadt ‘dynasty’,

which succeeded in that impossi-

ble mission so dear to the Dutch:

to be immensely wealthy, influen-

tial and completely unknown...

Zanse Shans je neverovatno slikovit

kompleks malih muzeja, restorana,

ljupkih bed and breakfast iz 17. veka

Zaanse Schans is an incredibly

picturesque complex of small

museums, restaurants, and charming

bed & breakfast houses from the 17

century