Bike Netherlands/ Utrecht Oudegracht

In 1122, Utrecht was granted town rights, a defensive wall and the construction of a canal across the town, the Oudegracht, began. With access to the Vecht and Rijn Vecht, a canal in the south, the Oudegracht became an elongated port.
In the Middle Ages, the difference in level between the canal and the road gave merchants the idea of creating a port system. The tunnels under the road connected it to the cellars of the houses, which were so easy to transport into the houses.
Wine, cloth, vegetables, grain and livestock were all stored and sold here. At the beginning of the 20th century shipping was pushed out of the city.
But the Oudegracht is still today the bustling and pulsating centre of Utrecht.