A famous Amsterdam public park with a broadly Serpentine Style layout. Vondelpark was named after Joost van den Vondel, a playright and advocate of religious freedom. Vondelpark was designed in 1864 by the garden architect Jan David Zocher. In 1953, the ownership changed from the 'Society for parks, riding and strolling' to the city of Amsterdam. It has become Amsterdam's largest and most popular city park with approx 10m visitors/year.