Singel canal by Jeroen de Jongh Photography

About "Singel canal"

by Jeroen de Jongh Photography

About the artwork

The Singel is an Amsterdam canal, which runs from the IJ to the Muntplein, where it flows into the Binnen Amstel.

The Singel was dug around 1428 from the IJ to the Boerenwetering. Around 1450 the remaining part followed until the Amstel river. Until the enlargement of the city in about 1585, the Singel formed the western city boundary. From 1481, the earthen rampart was replaced by a stone wall. At that time the Singel was also called Stedegracht. This Stedegracht still consists of the present Singel, the Kloveniersburgwal and the Geldersekade.

In the 17th century, the Singel was temporarily called Koningsgracht as a tribute to King Henry IV of France; at the time an important ally of the Republic. The Place Royale is a reminder of this.

The Torensluis lock from 1648 is the oldest preserved and widest bridge in the entire inner city. This Bridge 9 - near the Oude Leliestraat - is so wide because the Jan Roodenpoort tower, demolished in 1829, stood here. The dungeons of the tower are still part of the bridgehead. In the pebbles on the bridge the contours of the former tower have been made recognizable since 2003. Here, next to the statue of Multatuli (Hans Bayens 1987), there are often terraces.

The Muntsluis under the Muntplein is the last bridge before the Singel flows into the Amstel river. In the system of the numbering of the Amsterdam bridges this is the first, bridge 1.