Mapping Early New York’s 3D New Amsterdam Makes Its European Debut on October 8, 2026

DELFSHAVEN, ROTTERDAM — Following the closing of Old Masters, New Amsterdam  at the New York Historical, the New Amsterdam History Center’s Mapping Early New York 3D reconstruction of New Amsterdam’s 1660 Castello Plan will cross the Atlantic for its European debut at the historic Pilgrim Fathers Church in Delfshaven, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

The exhibition opens October 8, 2026, in the very church where the Pilgrim Fathers spent their final night before sailing for America in 1620. It is a fitting setting for an exhibition exploring two distinct but interconnected colonial histories: the Pilgrims’ journey from Delfshaven to New England and the establishment of Dutch New Amsterdam on Manhattan in the 1620s.

At the heart of the exhibition is an interactive touchscreen where visitors can explore a detailed 3D model of the 1660 Castello Plan and experience New Amsterdam’s streets, buildings, gardens, harbor, and daily life four centuries ago.

Developed through more than fifteen years of research, the Mapping Early New York team offers one of the most comprehensive digital visualizations of a 17th-century American city ever created.

In New York, the model presented the story of a Dutch colonial city. In Delfshaven, it takes on a broader dimension, bringing New Amsterdam and New England into conversation: two very different societies shaped by people crossing the Atlantic in search of opportunity, religious freedom, self-government, and new beginnings. Both encountering Indigenous peoples and cultures already deeply rooted in North America.

The exhibition arrives at an especially timely moment, as the United States marks the 250th anniversary of American independence and New York commemorates the 400th anniversary of New Amsterdam, offering an opportunity to reconsider the connections and divergent paths that emerged from these early encounters across the Atlantic. 

Contact:  info@newamsterdamhistorycenter.org

Director of Mapping Early New York, Vanessa Bezemer Sellers, PhD.

---

 

           OPENING PROGRAM

Thursday, October 8, 2026 – Pilgrim Fathers Church, Delfshaven, Rotterdam

10:30 a.m. — Arrival and Welcome
Coffee, tea, and cookies

11:00 a.m. — Program Starts

Welcome and Opening Remarks
Sicco de Vries and Marjan van Schijndel

The Mapping Early New York Project
Vanessa Bezemer Sellers
The history, research, and significance of the 3D Castello Plan and Mapping Early New York Project

Native America and New Netherland
Alexandra van Dongen
Native American history and its connections to early New Netherland

11:50 a.m. —  OPENING CEREMONY

12:20 p.m. — Closing Remarks and Thanks
Sicco de Vries and Marjan van Schijndel

12:30 p.m. — Festive Luncheon

Following the opening presentations, guests are invited to use the interactive touchscreen in the Exhibition Room to explore the 3D model 1660 Castello Plan of New Amsterdam. 

The exhibit Mapping Early New York—3D Castello Plan will be on view at the Pilgrim Fathers Church in Delfshaven from October 8, 2026, through March 8, 2027. The exhibit will be open to the public during Open Church Days, or by appointment. Guided group tours are also available  https://www.oudeofpelgrimvaderskerk.nl/en/visit 

Major support for Mapping Early New York is provided by the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation, the Society of Daughters of Holland Dames, the First Families of New York, Ken Chase, the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in New York, the Netherland-America Foundation, Verenigde Feteris-de Baan en Semper Labor Stichting, and supporters of the New Amsterdam History Center.