History of the famous Amsterdam Canals

Amsterdam is often referred to as the ‘Venice of the North’ because it has so many canals and bridges. But why does Amsterdam have all these canals and what are the most important ones?
A short history of the Herengracht, the Keizersgracht, the Prinsengracht and other parts of the inner city of Amsterdam.

The Amsterdam canals

Amsterdam has more than one hundred kilometers of canals in Amsterdam, about 90 islands and 1500 bridges. The three main canals Herengracht, Prinsengracht, and Keizersgracht, dug in the 17th century, during the Dutch Golden Age, form a concentric belt around the city, known as the grachtengordel. Alongside the main canals are 1550 monumental buildings.

History of the Canals

Much of the Amsterdam canal system is the successful outcome of city planning. In the early part of the 17th century, with immigration at a height, a comprehensive plan was put together, calling for four main, concentric half-circles of canals with their ends resting on de IJ bay. Known as the “grachtengordel”, (the belt of canals) three of the canals are mostly for residential development and a fourth, outer canal, the present Nassau/Stadhouderskade, for purposes of defense and water management.

The plan also had canals along radii; a set of parallel canals in the Jordaan quarter (for transportation of goods); the conversion of an existing, inner perimeter canal (Singel) from a defensive purpose to residential and commercial development; and more than one hundred bridges.

Construction proceeded from west to east, across the breadth of the lay-out, not from the center outwards as a popular myth has it. Construction of the north-western sector was started in 1613 and was finished around 1625. After 1664, building in the southern sector was started, although slowly because of an economic depression.

Famous Canals of the Amsterdam Canal Belt

The Singel Canal

The Singel encircled the city in the Middle Ages. It served as a moat around the city from 1480 until 1585, when Amsterdam expanded beyond the Singel. The canal runs from the IJ bay, near Central Station, to the Muntplein square, where it meets the Amstel river. It is now the inner-most canal in Amsterdam’s semicircular ring of canals

Herengracht Canal

The Herengracht (Gentleman’s Canal) is is the first and the most elegant of the three major canals in the city centre of Amsterdam. The most fashionable part is called the Golden Bend, with many double wide mansions, inner gardens and coach houses on the Keizersgracht.
Keizersgracht Canal

The Keizersgracht (Emperor’s Canal) is the second and the widest of the three major canals in the city centre of Amsterdam, in between the Herengracht and the Prinsengracht. It is named after Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor.

Prinsengracht Canal

The Prinsengracht (Prince’s Canal) is the fourth and the longest of the main canals in Amsterdam. Most of the canal houses along it were built during the Dutch Golden Age of the United Provinces.

Zwanenburgwal Canal

The Zwanenburgwal is a canal and street in the center of Amsterdam. The painter Rembrandt and philosopher Spinoza lived here. The Zwanenburgwal flows from the Sint Antoniessluis sluice gate to the Amstel river. The canal was originally named Verversgracht (”dyers’ canal”), after the textile industry that once dominated this part of town. Dyed textiles were hung to dry along the canal.

Brouwersgracht Canal

The Brouwersgracht is a canal in the city centre of Amsterdam and is part of the canal belt connecting the Singel, Herengracht, Keizergracht and Prinsengracht and marks the northern border of the canal belt.

Kloveniersburgwal

The Kloveniersburgwal is a canal running south from Nieuwmarkt to the river Amstel on the edge of the medieval city. The east side became populated in the 17th century and has a few rich mansions: like the Trippenhuis, now housing the KNAW. The Kloveniersburgwal was popular with administrators at the Dutch East India Company, being close to its nerve center on Oude Hoogstraat and its warehouse. In one of these buildings a youth hostel is located.

Enjoy the Canals by boat

There are several companies that have boat tours through the canals of Amsterdam. Those are fun and a beautiful way of enjoying the canals. They usually come with a guide that knows a lot of interesting stories about the city and the Canals.

References:
Wikipedia
Grachten.nl
map of the canals