About Utrecht
The city
Utrecht is an old city located in the middle of the Netherlands. You will be struck by the beauty of the historical heart of the city: by the famous Dom tower, by the canals with its numerous bars and restaurants, by its museums (you can see Miffy, or Nijntje in Dutch, at the Dick Bruna house of the Central Museum), or its famous architecture (for example, the Rietveld house).
useful (tourist) links: Utrecht your way
History
Utrecht was founded in the first century by Romans building a fortress at a defense line against Germanic tribes on the Rhine. The fortress was built at the site of the present Dom Square. Its first name, Traiectum (a ford), was later changed to Ultra (on the far side) Traiectum. The two parts of this Roman name later merged into Utrecht. The Romans eventually left Utrecht (around 270 AD).
In the middle ages Utrecht became an important seat of the Roman Catholic church mainly due to its influential archbishops (e.g. Willibrordus). In 1254 the famous ‘Dom’ church (Cathedral of Saint Martin) was constructed after an earlier romanesque cathedral had been damaged by fire. (The Dom tower and Dom church are separated due to the collapse of the nave during a tornado in 1674). In 1122 Utrecht received city rights. From this time on the city of Utrecht became canalized, with wharfs functioning as an inner city harbour.
In 1579 the Union of Utrecht was signed to force against spanish rule. This treaty is generally regarded as the origin of the Dutch Republic. From this time on, protestant rule replaced the roman catholic Archbishops. In the 17th century, Utrecht was a fortified city in the Dutch Water Line. The fortification, however, limited its growth and was replaced by the New Dutch Water Line in the 19th century.
Some facts
At present the city of Utrecht has 288,732 inhabitants, although its agglomeration has around 620,000 inhabitants. About 68% of the population Dutch, 9% is Moroccan, 5% Turkish, 3% Surinamese and 15% is of other origin.
Location
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