Cities on the water: Amsterdam Amsterdam capital and largest city of the Netherlands, is located in the province of North Holland. It has one of the largest Renaissance centers in all of Europe. Numerous buildings dating back to the period between the 16th and 17th centuries, also known as the Golden Age, are now considered historical monuments and are placed around a series of concentric polygonal channels. These surround the old port that once overlooked the Zuiderzee, today a lake separated from the rest of the sea known as IJsselmeer. IJsselmeer (lake IJssel) was created between the two world wars. The Dutch built dams and separated the Zuiderzee from the North Sea: the stretches of water east of Amsterdam became like this a freshwater lake and no longer a saltwater bay. The Prinsengracht ("Prince's Canal") is a canal, as well as a street in Amsterdam, which runs between the southern, eastern and northern parts of the city center. Excavated in the second half of the 17th century, it is the most recent, the outermost and the longest (it measures more than 3 km) of these three canals and is dedicated to William the Taciturnus. Numerous houseboats are moored along its banks. The Herengracht ("Lords Canal") is a canal and street in Amsterdam, which runs from south to north in the western part of the city center and forms - together with the Keizersgracht and the Prinsengracht - the so-called "circle of canals". It was built between 1585 and the second half of the 17th century. The Keizersgracht ("Emperor's Canal") is one of the three main canals in the historic center of Amsterdam: begun in 1612 and named after Emperor Maximilian of Austria it is the most central of the three main channels. The Keizergracht extends from the northern part of the city center to the southern part of the city center, where it joins the Prinsengracht, the Nieuwe Achtergracht and the Entrepotdok. The Keizersgracht has a width of 31 meters and is crossed by 14 bridges. During the winter the canal is covered by ice and navigation is forbidden until it thaws. See you next week with another city on the water! 4 / 1 2 0 2

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