Amsterdam canal belt 400!

As a result of several conflicts in other parts of Europe the cities in the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands opened their gates to religious and economic refugees. This lead to a rapid growth of the urban population in many of the important trading centres such as Middelburg, Flushing (Vlissingen in Dutch), Harlem, Delft, Leiden, Gouda, Schiedam,  Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Utrecht, Arnhem, Zwolle and Groningen. The republic was governed by a States General wherein all mayor cities were represented. After the fall of Antwerp in 1585 the economic centre shifted from Brabant towards Holland. In Holland several small cities quickly grew with immigrants from the southern Netherlands and the Rhineland.

Amsterdam became one of the most important cities in Europe during the 17th century. This city had started as a humble fishing settlement on the Amstel river in the 13th century. A dam was built to create a secure harbour on the IJ around 1205. The settlement Amstelredamme only consisted of small houses along a dyke on either side of the Amstel river; the Ouwezijds and Nieuwezijds (old side and new side respectively). In 1306 the settlement was granted city rights and in 1340 a palisade was erected around the oval shaped settlement on both banks of the river. This settlement was later expanded by digging a second (1385) and third (1420) moat around it. This was the only way of expanding a water city. Amsterdam was after all located in marshland.

In 1538 a city plan was drawn showing the dam in the Amstel with the Damrak beyond the dam slues and a number of moats encircling the settlement: Oudezijds Voorburwal, Oudezijds Achterburgwal, Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal and Nieuwezijds Achterburgwal (named after the old and new fortifications respectively) and the Singel (omsingelen means to wrap around or encircle). In 1518 a new outer moat (de Nieuwe Gracht) with city wall was constructed to enclose the suburb of Lastage east of the St. Anthony Gate. East of these city walls several islands were created between 1591 and 93 that would develop into the Jewish quarter of Amsterdam. It was mainly developed for housing in the 17th en 18th centuries, before then mainly warehouses stood here within the expanded fortifications.

The iconic urban shape of the old city of Amsterdam with its fan like structure and rings of watercourses. The semicircular canal-belt is one of the most easily recognizable urban features. Within the old centre we find the Old Church (O), the New Church (N), City Hall (C), the Dam Square (D) and the Damrak (R). The main focus of the city before the canal-belt lay east with the Lastage (L later New Market), the Synagogue (S), the Hortus (H), Natura Artis Magistra (A), Plantage (P) and 's- Lands Zeemagazijn (Z - the Arsenal of the Amsterdam Admiralty). The Singel (s) surrounds the old city. The Nieuwe Gracht (ng) indicates the edge of the eastern extension. The Herengracht (h) surrounded the first extension. The canal-belt proper consists of the Herengracht (h), Keizersgracht (k), Prinsengracht (p) and Singelgracht (sg). Thiscontinues beyond the Amstel (a) as Nieuwe Herengracht (nh), Nieuwe Keizersgracht (nk) and Nieuwe Prinsengracht (np). The canal-belt starts at the Brouwersgracht (b).Beyond the canal-belt we find the Jordaan district (J).

The expansion before 1600 was relatively small in scale, but in 1612 a large speculative expansion (stadsuitleg) was started. This so-called grachtengordel (literally: canal-belt) was penciled in over existing fields and comprised of a series of interconnected waterways with three main watercourses encircling the old city. These three broad watercourses or grachten* were dug in straight sections between new radials fanning out from the edges of the old city. Work started in the west at the Brouwersgracht (Brewers Canal). The first phase consisted of the three main watercourses -the preexisting an widened- Herengracht (named after the Heren Regeerders or Councilors), Keizersgracht (named in honour of the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian of Habsburg) and Prinsengracht (named in honour of William prince of Orange). Of these the Prinsengracht was conceived as the most prestigious with larger plots. Between the canals mews were constructed . On these mews stable blocks and servants housing was built at the back of the long and narrow gardens. Beyond the canal belt less prestigious housing was planned. This area called Jordaan follows the old polder parceling. Polder ditches were alternately widened or filled in. The Jordaan area has a parallel structure of strips at an angle to the canal-belt. The area first known as Het Nieuwe Werk (the new works or new piece) once included eleven canals

In a second phase of construction  after 1658 the canal-belt was extended from the Leidsegracht to the Amstel river. The peripheral moat (Singelgracht) around the fortifications was also extended, eventually towards the IJ at Zeeburg at the end of the 17th century. Beyond the Amstel river the canal-belt was continued (1662), but every watercourse had the word Nieuw (new) attached to it. Development of this part of the canal-belt stalled in the second half of the 18th century and the area was used as gardens, a physics garden (Hortus Medicus), a municipal tree nursery (de Plantage) and a recreational area. In the IJ - a large inlet of the Zuiderzee - several artificial islands were constructed to serve as wharfs and shipyards: the eastern islands and docks around 1657 an the western islands and docks around 1615. So with the canal-belt the harbour also expanded outward away from the Damrak.

The four subsequent enlargements of Amsterdam -also known as the eerste (U1), tweede (U2), derde (U3) en vierde (U4) uitleg, were executed between 1578 and 1665. In this period the city grew from 30.000 to 160.000 inhabitants (within the walls) and became the most important trading and industrial centre of Europe (together with Zaandam north of the IJ).In the IJ two new harbour areas were developed on new islands in this sea inlet: the Western Harbour (W) and Eastern Harbour (E).

* The Dutch word "gracht" stems from graft a form of graven and means dug out or cut through. The German equivalent is Graben. Gracht is used for inner-city watercourses as well as moats, dry moats and embankments or quays. There is no true equivalent in other languages. In English the word canal is mostly used although in Dutch kanaal refers to a shipping channel (also known as vaart, which means as much as waterway navigateable by boat). To complicate the matter even further in Flanders the word gracht is used for ditches and other drainage channels. In Bruges the word reien is used, in Ghent they use leien and in Antwerp ruien is used instead of gracht for inner-city watercourses.