Utrecht, city of the forgotten treasures

The municipality of Utrecht is surrounded by municipalities such as De Bilt, Stichtse Vecht, Woerden IJsselstein, Nieuwegein, Houten, Zeist, and Bunnik. Utrecht is the most centrally located city in the Netherlands.

Utrecht Central Station is the largest railway junction in the country. Across the water, the most important waterway is the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal. The Amsterdam-Rhine canal is a busy canal. Ruhr area connects with Amsterdam.

Utrecht has a number of well-known landmarks, such as the Hoog Catharijne shopping center or the Dom tower. And although most people only see the province and the city of Utrecht as a landmark, Utrecht is a very vibrant city with lots of culture, restaurants and beautiful parts of the old city.

In a sense, Utrecht looks somewhat like Amsterdam. Utrecht is cut by canals just like Amsterdam. However, what makes the canals of Utrecht a lot more fun is that many terraces are on the water level while the street level is a lot higher.

The big eye-catcher of the city is of course the Utrecht Dom Tower which has a height of 112 meters. The city of Utrecht owes its name Domstad to this tower, which is also the highest church tower in the Netherlands. The city of Utrecht was one of the first cities to acquire city rights in 1122.

The street plan as it is located in Utrecht already originated in the Middle Ages. A large part of the houses are of medieval origin. Although the city has changed quite a bit over the years, many monumental buildings have been preserved.

Utrecht was very important for trade in the Netherlands in the 13th and 14th centuries and it became one of the most important trading cities in Europe. This was mainly due to the location of the city on the River Rhine.

However, with the rise of the county of Holland, Utrecht became less and less important because a large part of the trade moved to the county of Holland. Until the 16th century, Utrecht was the largest city in the Netherlands. In the year 1808, Utrecht was even the capital of the Kingdom of Holland for a short period.

Today, with its University, Utrecht has become a very attractive city, especially for young residents. The average age in Utrecht is therefore relatively low. The Utrecht University and the Utrecht High School are the most famous educational institutions in the city.

The best-known companies that originate in Utrecht or are located here include Douwe Egberst coffee producer, De Jaarbeurs Utrecht, ProRail and the Dutch Railways (NS).