Quiet blue hour on the Utrecht Oudegracht

by Jeroen de Jongh Photography

The Oudegracht is the most famous canal in the Dutch city of Utrecht. The approximately two-kilometer-long canal can be considered the connecting piece between the Kromme Rijn and the Vecht and cuts through the entire inner city from south to north. For centuries it has been the main artery of the city. The system of wharves and wharf cellars of Utrecht's Oude- en Nieuwegracht is unique in the world on this scale. In 2008 there was talk of nominating the canal, bridge and wharf system for the UNESCO World Heritage List, but such a nomination has not yet taken place.

When the canals were dug, the excavated soil was used to raise the banks. In this way the danger of flooding was reduced. On the high banks a road was built with the houses of merchants behind it. Initially the banks sloped down to the water, but as early as the second half of the twelfth century the idea arose to dig tunnels from the moorings on the water to the cellars under the houses on the banks.

By building waterworks, the water level in the Oudegracht could be controlled. This gave the water level a constant low level and the storage cellars of the houses were extended under the streets to the canal on a large scale. In front of these cellars new quays were constructed. This is how the typical yards and yard cellars were created. When the process was completed in the fifteenth century, a two-kilometer long harbor with double quays had come into being, the lifeline of the city of Utrecht for centuries.