Page 17 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide 2016 - Amsterdam

Canals and Waterways ❮❮ 15

THE GRACHTENGORDEL

Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in TOP 10
2010, Amsterdam’s magnificent semicircle of BRIDGES
four canals – the Singel, Herengracht, 1 Magere Brug (Amstel)
Keizersgracht, and Prinsengracht – is the city’s
defining characteristic. Lined by elegant gabled 2 Python Bridge
houses, and connected by intimate cross- 3 Jan Schaefer Bridge
streets, the three outer canals were devised in 4 Nieuwe Amstelbrug
the early 17th century to cope with the rapid (Amstel)
rise in population. Previously a moat, the 5 Berlagebrug (Amstel)
Singel was now considered a part of the ring 6 Torensluis (Singel)
as houses were built on it during this period. 7 St Antoniesluis
Built in two stages, this costly plan was purely (Zwanenburgwal)
aesthetic – the land along the banks was sold 8 Seven (humpback)
in single, long plots that were taxed on width; bridges (Reguliersgracht)
the wealthy bought two together. 9 White wooden
Amsterdam had its unlikely beginnings some drawbridges (Western
400 years earlier, when a fishing settlement Islands)
grew up on the marshy banks of the river 10 Sleutelbrug
Amstel. (It was dam med in 1222 – hence the (Oudezijds Voorburgwal)
name, a contraction of Amstelledamme.) As
the town began to expand,
canals were cut to drain more
land and provide transport
channels; the outer canals
were fortified. A glance at a
map clearly shows the limits of
the medieval town, bounded
by the curved Singel, with the
rest of the Grachtengordel
fanning out beyond.
Magere Brug, literally “skinny
bridge”, was built over the
River Amstel in 1934.

The Grachtengordel looks its best bathed in romantic dusk light.

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