The canals of Utrecht are unique in the world. They are part of an ingenious medieval dockland development with wharves and cellars connected under the streets with the huge storage cellars of the canal houses. This harbour came into being some seven hundred years ago when the merchants of Utrecht made a clever use of the difference in levels between the canals with their mooring stages and the street with its houses a few metres higher up.

For centuries to come the canal with its heavily laden ships, its rotating cranes, sweat-drenched workers and calls of market vendors, was a hive of activity. Wine, linen, fish, corn, vegetables, fruit, wood, peat and cattle – all kinds of goods were stored and sold here. It was only at the start of the twentieth century, after shipping had ceased to be so crucial to the city, that transport by water to and from these storage depots disappeared.

The wharves however are still there and the Oudegracht, which was the centre of the historical port, remains the bustling heart of the city to this day. With its many restaurants and pavement cafes, shops and market vendors, the canal and its wharves continue to be of vital economic importance. What is more, ships still moor here, even if they are now mainly round-trip boats and pleasure launches or the occasional boat with supplies for the restaurants. The tourists lean over the railings on top of the walls and gaze in admiration at the sight of a medieval harbour that is one of its kind in the world.