Vecht (Utrecht)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/77/RhineUtrecht.jpg/150px-RhineUtrecht.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/Location_vecht.jpg/150px-Location_vecht.jpg)
The Vecht is a Rhine branch in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is sometimes called Utrechtse Vecht to avoid confusion with its Overijssel counterpart. The area along the river is called the Vechtstreek.
Geography
The Vecht originates from the city of Utrecht, where the Kromme Rijn stream forks into two branches: the Leidse Rijn/Oude Rijn branch to the west and the Vecht to the north. Originally the Vecht branched off south of the city near the Roman fort Fectio, flowing eastwards around the city, but in the 12th century a northern shortcut was dug out.
The Vecht meanders north past the towns and villages of Maarssen, Breukelen and Nigtevecht, crosses the border into the province of North Holland, passes the city of Weesp and discharges into the IJmeer (Lake IJ, part of the former Zuiderzee) at Muiden. The Amsterdam-Rijnkanaal (Amsterdam-Rhine Canal) was dug in the Vecht basin.
The Roman historian Tacitus tells us that in the first century CE a Roman fleet sailed due north down a Rhine branch, then sailed past Lake Flevo (now the Markermeer and IJsselmeer lakes) into the North Sea. This could have been the IJssel, which the Romans connected to the Rhine themselves, or the river Vecht.
In the 17th and 18th centuries many country estates, known as buitenplaatsen,[1] were built on the banks of the Vecht by rich merchants and administrators from Amsterdam.
References
- ^ "Rivers of the World: the Vecht in Holland", Radio Netherlands Archives, January 31, 2003
52°20′13″N 5°04′08″E / 52.337°N 5.069°E / 52.337; 5.069
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Rijn
Rhin
- Current distributaries
- Waal
- Nederrijn
- IJssel
- Lek
- Merwede
- Boven Merwede
- Nieuwe Merwede
- Beneden Merwede
- Oude Maas
- Dordtsche Kil
- Noord
- Nieuwe Maas
- Scheur
- Nieuwe Waterweg
- Former distributaries
- Kromme Rijn
- Leidse Rijn
- Oude Rijn
- Hollandse IJssel
- Vecht
- Waaltje
- Brielse Maas
- Spui
- Current estuaries
- Nieuwe Waterweg
- IJsselmeer
- Former estuaries
- Hollands Diep
- Haringvliet
- Volkerak
- Krammer
- Grevelingen
- Keeten-Mastgat
- Oosterschelde
Maas
- Current distributaries
- Bergse Maas
- Amer
- Former distributaries
- Oude Maasje
- Afgedamde Maas
- Merwede
- Boven Merwede
- Beneden Merwede
- Oude Maas
- Dordtsche Kil
- Noord
- Nieuwe Maas
- Scheur
- Nieuwe Waterweg
- Current estuaries
- Former estuaries
- Hollands Diep
- Haringvliet
- Volkerak
- Krammer
- Grevelingen
- Keeten-Mastgat
- Oosterschelde
- Associated canals
- Heusden Canal
- Bergse Maas
- Maas–Waal Canal
Schelde
Escaut
- Current distributaries
- Western Scheldt
- Former distributaries
- Oosterschelde
- Eendracht
- Current estuaries
- Western Scheldt
- Former estuaries
- Oosterschelde
- Krammer
- Grevelingen
- Associated canals
- Scheldt–Rhine Canal
- Canal through Zuid-Beveland
- Canal through Walcheren
(directly draining
into the delta)
- Linge
- Mark
- Donge
- Rotte
- Oude IJssel
Peninsulas
- Rozenburg
- IJsselmonde
- Het Eiland van Dordt
- Voorne and Putten
- Hoeksche Waard
- Tiengemeten
- Goeree-Overflakkee
- Schouwen-Duiveland
- Tholen
- Sint Philipsland
- Walcheren
- Noord-Beveland
- Zuid-Beveland
- Delta Works
- Verdronken Land van Reimerswaal
- Verdronken Land van Saeftinghe
- St. Elizabeth's flood (1421)
- St. Felix's Flood
- All Saints' Flood (1570)
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