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71-506: In 2001, the town of Harmelen had 6557 inhabitants. The built-up area of the town was 1.11 km², and contained 2481 residences. Harmelen is on the railway line between Utrecht and Woerden; its train station was opened on 21 May 1855 and closed on 15 May 1936. In 1962, two passenger trains collided near Harmelen. The Harmelen train disaster , resulting in 93 fatalities, was the largest train accident in Dutch history. The village used to be

142-469: A certain level of independence from the bishops and were not willing to cede this to their new lord. The heavily fortified castle Vredenburg was built to house a large garrison whose main task was to maintain control over the city. The castle would last less than 50 years before it was demolished in an uprising in the early stages of the Dutch Revolt . In 1579 the northern seven provinces signed

213-407: A highway ( Catherijnebaan ). Protest against further modernisation of the city centre followed even before the last buildings were finalised. In the early 21st century, the whole area is undergoing change again. The redeveloped music centre TivoliVredenburg opened in 2014 with the original Vredenburg and Tivoli concert and rock and jazz halls brought together in a single building. Utrecht experiences

284-426: A separate municipality, until it merged with Woerden in 2001. Before the merger the municipality of Harmelen had about 8000 inhabitants. This Utrecht location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Utrecht (city) Utrecht ( / ˈ j uː t r ɛ k t / YOO -trekt , Dutch: [ˈytrɛxt] ; Utrecht dialect : Ut(e)reg [ˈyt(ə)ʁɛχ] )

355-486: A social obligation to work his best for the general welfare of the people, [an] obligation both material and spiritual. Traditionally, shokunin honoured their tools of trade at New Year's – the sharpened and taken-care of tools would be placed in a tokonoma (a container or box still found in Japanese houses and shops), and two rice cakes and a tangerine (on top of rice paper) were placed on top of each toolbox, to honour

426-476: A temperate oceanic climate ( Köppen : Cfb ) similar to all of the Netherlands . Utrecht city had a population of 361,924 in 2022. It is a growing municipality and projections are that the population will surpass 392,000 by 2025. As of November 2019, the city of Utrecht has a population of 357,179. Utrecht has a young population, with many inhabitants in the age category from 20 and 30 years, due to

497-606: Is a station on the night service , providing an all-night service to (among others) Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam and Rotterdam, seven days a week. International InterCityExpress (ICE) services to Germany through Arnhem call at Utrecht Centraal. Regular local trains to all areas surrounding Utrecht also depart from Utrecht Centraal; and service several smaller stations: Utrecht Lunetten ; Utrecht Vaartsche Rijn ; Utrecht Overvecht ; Utrecht Leidsche Rijn ; Utrecht Terwijde ; Utrecht Zuilen and Vleuten . A former station Utrecht Maliebaan closed in 1939 and has since been converted into

568-559: Is also informally considered the "capital" of the Dutch games industry . It was named by Business Finland in 2023 as one of several capitals for the European games industry as a whole. Utrecht's influence in this field was caused by video game development courses at its universities, which were the first such courses in Europe when launched in 2002. Since 2008 Utrecht has also been home to

639-604: Is currently operated by the private transport company Qbuzz . On 16 December 2019 the new tram line to the Uithof started operating, creating a direct mass transit connection from the central station to the main Utrecht university campus. The main local and regional bus station of Utrecht is located adjacent to Utrecht Centraal railway station, at the East and West entrances. Due to large-scale renovation and construction works at

710-645: Is dominated by the Dom Tower , the tallest belfry in the Netherlands and originally part of the Cathedral of Saint Martin . An ongoing debate is over whether any building in or near the centre of town should surpass the Dom Tower in height (112 m [367 ft]). Nevertheless, some tall buildings are now being constructed that will become part of the skyline of Utrecht. The second-tallest building of

781-667: Is done at the Utrecht School of the Arts . The Centraal Museum has many exhibitions on the arts, including a permanent exhibition on the works of Utrecht resident illustrator Dick Bruna , who is best known for creating Miffy ("Nijntje", in Dutch). BAK, [Dutch: "Basis voor Actuele Kunst," Basis for Contemporary Art] offers contemporary art exhibitions and public events, as well as a Fellowship program for practitioners involved in contemporary arts, theory and activisms. Although street art

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852-523: Is home of one of the locations of TIAS School for Business and Society , focused on post-experience management education and the largest management school of its kind in the Netherlands. In 2008, its executive MBA program was rated the 24th best program in the world by the Financial Times . Utrecht is also home to two other large institutions of higher education: the vocational university Hogeschool Utrecht (37,000 students), with locations in

923-772: Is illegal in Utrecht, the Utrechtse Kabouter, a picture of a gnome with a red hat, became a common sight in 2004. Utrecht also houses one of the landmarks of modern architecture, the 1924 Rietveld Schröder House , which is listed on UNESCO's World Heritage Sites . Artisan An artisan (from French : artisan , Italian : artigiano ) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand . These objects may be functional or strictly decorative , for example furniture , decorative art , sculpture , clothing , food items , household items, and tools and mechanisms such as

994-405: Is sometimes argued that the close by municipalities De Bilt , Zeist , Houten , Vianen , Driebergen-Rijsenburg ( Utrechtse Heuvelrug ), and Bunnik should also be counted towards the Utrecht agglomeration, bringing the total to 640,000 inhabitants. The larger region, including slightly more remote cities such as Woerden and Amersfoort , counts up to 820,000 inhabitants. Utrecht's cityscape

1065-500: Is still in the city centre at Neude square, but is now serving as library, see also Utrecht Post Office . Another landmark is the old centre and the canal structure in the inner city. The Oudegracht is a curved canal, partly following the ancient main branch of the Rhine . It is lined with the unique wharf-basement structures that create a two-level street along the canals. The inner city has largely retained its medieval structure, and

1136-429: Is subdivided into 10 city quarters, all of which have their own neighbourhood council and service centre for civil affairs. Utrecht is the centre of a densely populated area, a fact which makes concise definitions of its agglomeration difficult, and somewhat arbitrary. The smaller Utrecht agglomeration of continuously built-up areas counts some 420,000 inhabitants and includes Nieuwegein , IJsselstein and Maarssen . It

1207-608: Is that they picture them as "workers" in the modern sense: employed by someone. The most influential group among the artisans were the masters, the business owners. The owners enjoyed a high social status in their communities, and organised into guilds in towns and cities. Shokunin is a Japanese word for "artisan" or "craftsman", which also implies a pride in one's own work. In the words of shokunin Tashio Odate: Shokunin means not only having technical skill, but also implies an attitude and social consciousness...

1278-540: Is the fourth-largest city of the Netherlands , as well as the capital and the most populous city of the province of Utrecht . The municipality of Utrecht is located in the eastern part of the Randstad conurbation , in the very centre of mainland Netherlands, and includes Haarzuilens , Vleuten and De Meern . It has a population of 361,699 as of December 2021 . Utrecht's ancient city centre features many buildings and structures, several dating as far back as

1349-581: The Dutch Railway Museum . Utrecht is the location of the headquarters of Nederlandse Spoorwegen (English: Dutch Railways ), the largest rail operator in the Netherlands, and ProRail , the state-owned company responsible for the construction and maintenance of the country's rail infrastructure. The Utrecht sneltram is a light rail scheme running southwards from Utrecht Centraal to the suburbs of IJsselstein , Kanaleneiland , Lombok and Nieuwegein . The sneltram began operations in 1983 and

1420-708: The Euro-VI standard as well as electric buses for inner-city transport. Regional buses from the city are operated by Arriva and Connexxion . The Utrecht Centraal railway station is also served by the pan-European services of Eurolines . Furthermore, it acts as departure and arrival place of many coach companies serving holiday resorts in Spain and France—and during winter in Austria and Switzerland . Like most Dutch cities, Utrecht has an extensive network of cycle paths , making cycling safe and popular. 33% of journeys within

1491-638: The Frisians . Pope Sergius I appointed their leader, Saint Willibrordus , as bishop of the Frisians. The tenure of Willibrordus is generally considered to be the beginning of the Bishopric of Utrecht . In 723, the Frankish leader Charles Martel bestowed the fortress in Utrecht and the surrounding lands as the base of the bishops. From then on Utrecht became one of the most influential seats of power for

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1562-670: The High Middle Ages . It has been the religious centre of the Netherlands since the 8th century. In 1579, the Union of Utrecht was signed in the city to lay the foundations for the Dutch Republic . Utrecht was the most important city in the Netherlands until the Dutch Golden Age , when it was surpassed by Amsterdam as the country's cultural centre and most populous city. Utrecht is home to Utrecht University ,

1633-472: The Middle Ages , the term "artisan" was applied to those who made things or provided services. It did not apply to unskilled manual labourers . Artisans were divided into two distinct groups: those who operated their own businesses and those who did not. The former were called masters , while the latter were the journeymen and apprentices . One misunderstanding many people have about this social group

1704-412: The Netherlands with 30,449 students (as of 2012 ). The university is partially based in the inner city as well as in the Uithof campus area, on the east side of the city. According to Shanghai Jiaotong University 's university ranking in 2014, it is the 57th-best university in the world. Utrecht also houses the much smaller University of Humanistic Studies , which houses about 400 students. Utrecht

1775-544: The Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie were moved east of Utrecht. The town walls could now be demolished to allow for expansion. The moats remained intact and formed an important feature of the Zocher plantsoen, an English style landscape park that remains largely intact today. Growth of the city increased when, in 1843, a railway connecting Utrecht to Amsterdam was opened. After that, Utrecht gradually became

1846-583: The Roman emperor Claudius decided the empire should not expand further north. To consolidate the border, the Limes Germanicus defense line was constructed along the main branch of the river Rhine , which at that time traversed a more northern route (now known as the Kromme Rijn ) compared to today's Rhine flow. These fortresses were designed to house a cohort of about 500 Roman soldiers. Near

1917-613: The Teutonic Knights . Besides these buildings which belonged to the bishopric, an additional four parish churches were constructed in the city: the Jacobikerk ( dedicated to Saint James ), founded in the 11th century, with the current Gothic church dating back to the 14th century; the Buurkerk (Neighbourhood-church) of the 11th-century parish in the centre of the city; Nicolaichurch (dedicated to Saint Nicholas ), from

1988-400: The Union of Utrecht treaty (Dutch: Unie van Utrecht), in which they decided to join forces against Spanish rule. The Union of Utrecht is seen as the beginning of the Dutch Republic . In 1580, the new and predominantly Protestant state abolished the bishoprics, including the archbishopric of Utrecht. The stadtholders disapproved of the independent course of the Utrecht bourgeoisie and brought

2059-528: The 12th century, and the 13th-century Geertekerk (dedicated to Saint Gertrude of Nivelles ). Its location on the banks of the river Rhine allowed Utrecht to become an important trade centre in the Northern Netherlands. The growing town was granted city rights by Henry V at Utrecht on 2 June 1122. When the main flow of the Rhine moved south, the old bed which still flowed through the heart of

2130-471: The 16th century), on the Dom square, dating back to the early 8th century. Saint John (Janskerk), originating in 1040; Saint Peter , building started in 1039 and Saint Mary 's church building started around 1090 (demolished in the early 19th century, cloister survives). Besides these churches, the city housed St. Paul's Abbey , the 15th-century beguinage of St. Nicholas , and a 14th-century chapter house of

2201-542: The Catholic Church in the Netherlands. The archbishops of Utrecht were based at the uneasy northern border of the Carolingian Empire . In addition, the city of Utrecht had competition from the nearby trading centre Dorestad . After the fall of Dorestad around 850, Utrecht became one of the most important cities in the Netherlands. The importance of Utrecht as a centre of Christianity is illustrated by

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2272-599: The East, and Lombok to the West were developed. New middle-class residential areas, such as Tuindorp and Oog in Al , were built in the 1920s and 1930s. During this period, several Jugendstil houses and office buildings were built, followed by Rietveld who built the Rietveld Schröder House (1924), and Dudok 's construction of the city theatre (1941). During World War II , Utrecht was held by German forces until

2343-632: The French invasion in 1672 (the Disaster Year , Dutch: Rampjaar). The French invasion was stopped just west of Utrecht at the Old Hollandic Waterline . In 1674, only two years after the French left, the centre of Utrecht was struck by a tornado . The halt to building before construction of flying buttresses in the 15th century now proved to be the undoing of the cathedral of St Martin church's central section which collapsed, creating

2414-506: The bishop lost secular power over both Neder- and Oversticht—which included the city of Utrecht—to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor . Charles V combined the Seventeen Provinces (the current Benelux and the northern parts of France) as a personal union. This ended the prince-bishopric of Utrecht, as the secular rule was now the lordship of Utrecht , with the religious power remaining with the bishop, although Charles V had gained

2485-574: The bishop, who controlled many lands outside of the city, and the citizens of Utrecht was not always easy. The bishop, for example dammed the Kromme Rijn at Wijk bij Duurstede to protect his estates from flooding. This threatened shipping for the city and led the city of Utrecht to commission a canal to ensure access to the town for shipping trade: the Vaartse Rijn, connecting Utrecht to the Hollandse IJssel at IJsselstein . In 1528

2556-463: The central nave , from 1420. By that time, however, the age of the great cathedrals had come to an end and declining finances prevented the ambitious project from being finished, the construction of the central nave being suspended before the planned flying buttresses could be finished. Besides the cathedral there were four collegiate churches in Utrecht: St. Salvator's Church (demolished in

2627-577: The city and the Uithof campus; and the HKU Utrecht School of the Arts (3,000 students). There are many schools for primary and secondary education, allowing parents to select from different philosophies and religions in the school as is inherent in the Dutch school system . Utrecht city has an active cultural life, and in the Netherlands is second only to Amsterdam. There are several theatres and theatre companies. The 1941 main city theatre

2698-407: The city are by bicycle, more than any other mode of transport. (Cars, for example, account for 30% of trips). Bicycles are used by young and old people, and by individuals and families. They are mostly traditional, upright, steel-framed bicycles, with few gears. There are also bucket bikes for carrying cargo such as groceries or small children. Thanks in part to the access provided by bicycles, 100% of

2769-489: The city in the early 19th century, required open lines of fire, thus prohibiting all permanent constructions until the middle of the 20th century on the east side of the city. Due to the past importance of Utrecht as a religious centre, several monumental churches were erected, many of which have survived. Most prominent is the Dom Church . Other notable churches include the romanesque St Peter's and St John's churches;

2840-399: The city of Utrecht. The most dominant of these was the Cathedral of Saint Martin , inside the old Roman fortress. The construction of the present Gothic building was begun in 1254 after an earlier romanesque construction had been badly damaged by fire. The choir and transept were finished from 1320 and were followed then by the ambitious Dom tower . The last part to be constructed was

2911-458: The city under much more direct control of the republic, shifting the power towards its dominant province Holland . This was the start of a long period of stagnation of trade and development in Utrecht. Utrecht remained an atypical city in the new republic being about 40% Catholic in the mid-17th century, and even more so among the elite groups, who included many rural nobility and gentry with town houses there. The fortified city temporarily fell to

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2982-640: The city, the Rabobank -tower, was completed in 2010 and stands 105 m (344 ft) tall. Two antennas will increase that height to 120 m (394 ft). Two other buildings were constructed around the Nieuw Galgenwaard stadium (2007). These buildings, the 'Kantoortoren Galghenwert' and 'Apollo Residence', stand 85.5 m (280.5 ft) and 64.5 m (211.6 ft) high, respectively. The former Utrecht Main Post Office, built in 1924,

3053-556: The crafting of handmade food products, such as bread , beverages , cheese or textiles . Many of these have traditionally been handmade, rural or pastoral goods but are also now commonly made on a larger scale with automated mechanization in factories and other industrial areas. Artisans were the dominant producers of commodities before the Industrial Revolution . In ancient Greece , artisans were drawn to agoras and often built workshops nearby. During

3124-580: The current Dom square between the tower and choir. In 1713, Utrecht hosted one of the first international peace negotiations when the Treaty of Utrecht settled the War of the Spanish Succession . Beginning in 1723, Utrecht became the centre of the non-Roman Old Catholic Churches in the world. In the early 19th century, the role of Utrecht as a fortified town had become obsolete. The fortifications of

3195-562: The election of the Utrecht-born Adriaan Florenszoon Boeyens as pope in 1522 (the last non-Italian pope before John Paul II ). When the Frankish rulers established the system of feudalism , the Bishops of Utrecht came to exercise worldly power as prince-bishops . The territory of the bishopric not only included the modern province of Utrecht (Nedersticht, 'lower Sticht '), but also extended to

3266-584: The final section (after some delay) being opened on 19 August 2019. Utrecht is well-connected to the Dutch road network. Two of the most important major roads serve the city of Utrecht: the A12 and A2 motorways connect Amsterdam , Arnhem , The Hague and Maastricht , as well as Belgium and Germany. Other major motorways in the area are the Almere – Breda A27 and the Utrecht– Groningen A28 . Due to

3337-411: The fort, settlements grew that housed artisans , traders and soldiers' wives and children. In Roman times, the name of the Utrecht fortress was simply Traiectum , denoting its location at a possible Rhine crossing. Traiectum became Dutch Trecht; with the U from Old Dutch "uut" (downriver) added to distinguish U-trecht from Maas-tricht , on the river Meuse . In 11th-century official documents, it

3408-464: The general German surrender of the Netherlands on 5 May 1945. British and Canadian troops that had surrounded the city entered it after that surrender, on 7 May 1945. Following the end of World War II, the city grew considerably when new neighbourhoods such as Overvecht , Kanaleneiland , Hoograven  [ nl ] and Lunetten were built. Around 2000, the Leidsche Rijn housing area

3479-511: The gothic churches of St James and St Nicholas; and the Buurkerk, now converted into a museum for automatically playing musical instruments . Because of its central location, Utrecht is well connected to the rest of the Netherlands and has a well-developed public transport network. Utrecht Centraal is the main railway station of Utrecht and is the largest in the country. There are regular intercity services to all major Dutch cities, including direct services to Schiphol Airport . Utrecht Centraal

3550-447: The handmade clockwork movement of a watchmaker . Artisans practice a craft and may through experience and aptitude reach the expressive levels of an artist . The adjective "artisanal" is often used in describing hand-processing in contrast to an industrial process, such as in the phrase artisanal mining . Thus, "artisanal" is sometimes used in marketing and advertising as a buzz word to describe or imply some relation with

3621-481: The increasing traffic and the ancient city plan, traffic congestion is a common phenomenon in and around Utrecht, causing elevated levels of air pollutants . This has led to a passionate debate in the city about the best way to improve the city's air quality. Utrecht has an industrial port located on the Amsterdam-Rijnkanaal . The container terminal has a capacity of 80,000 containers a year. In 2003,

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3692-569: The larger station area redevelopment plan and in 2014 gained additional halls that allowed its merger with the rock club Tivoli and the SJU jazzpodium. There are several other venues for music throughout the city. Young musicians are educated in the conservatory , a department of the Utrecht School of the Arts . There is a specialised museum of automatically playing musical instruments. There are many art galleries in Utrecht. There are also several foundations to support art and artists. Training of artists

3763-420: The largest university in the Netherlands, as well as several other institutions of higher education. Due to its central position within the country, it is an important hub for both rail and road transport ; it has the busiest railway station in the Netherlands, Utrecht Centraal . It has the second-highest number of cultural events in the Netherlands, after Amsterdam. In 2012, Lonely Planet included Utrecht in

3834-443: The main hub of the Dutch railway network . With the Industrial Revolution finally gathering speed in the Netherlands and the ramparts taken down, Utrecht began to grow far beyond its medieval centre. When the Dutch government allowed the bishopric of Utrecht to be reinstated by Rome in 1853, Utrecht became the centre of Dutch Catholicism once more. From the 1880s onward, neighbourhoods such as Oudwijk, Wittevrouwen , Vogelenbuurt to

3905-579: The moat ringing the old town is largely intact. In the 1970s part of the moat was converted into a motorway. It was then converted back into a waterway, the work being finished in 2020. Because of the role of Utrecht as a fortified city, construction outside the medieval centre and its city walls was restricted until the 19th century. Surrounding the medieval core there is a ring of late-19th- and early-20th-century neighbourhoods, with newer neighbourhoods positioned farther out. The eastern part of Utrecht remains fairly open. The Dutch Water Line , moved east of

3976-741: The most senior Dutch Roman Catholic leader. His ecclesiastical province covers the whole kingdom. Utrecht is also the see of the archbishop of the Old Catholic Church , titular head of the Union of Utrecht , and the location of the offices of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands , the main Dutch Protestant church. As of 2013, the largest religion is Christianity with 28% of the population being Christian, followed by Islam with 9.9% in 2016 and Hinduism with 0.8%. Religions in Utrecht (2013) The city of Utrecht

4047-563: The northeast. The feudal conflict of the Middle Ages heavily affected Utrecht. The prince-bishopric was involved in almost continuous conflicts with the Counts of Holland and the Dukes of Guelders . The Veluwe region was seized by Guelders, but large areas in the modern province of Overijssel remained as the Oversticht. Several churches and monasteries were built inside, or close to,

4118-500: The population consists of people with a recent migration background from Western countries, while 24.8% of the population has at least one parent who is of 'non-Western origin' (8.8% from Morocco, 4% Turkey, 3% Surinam and Dutch Caribbean and 9.1% of other countries). Utrecht has been the religious centre of the Netherlands since the 8th century. Currently it is the see of the Metropolitan Archbishop of Utrecht ,

4189-558: The population lives in a 15-minute city and more than 90% can get to the major destination types within 10 minutes. In 2014, the city council decided to build the world's largest bicycle parking station , near the Central Railway Station . This three-floor construction cost over €30 million and can hold 12,500 bicycles. The bicycle parking station was built in stages, with the first part opening in August 2017, and

4260-460: The port facilitated the transport of four million tons of cargo; mostly sand, gravel, fertiliser and fodder. Additionally, some tourist boat trips are organised from various places on the Oudegracht; and the city is connected to touristic shipping routes through sluices. Production industry constitutes a small part of the economy of Utrecht. The economy of Utrecht depends for a large part on

4331-415: The presence of a large university. About 52% of the population is female, 48% is male. The majority of households (52.5%) in Utrecht are single-person households. About 29% of people living in Utrecht are either married, or have another legal partnership. About 3% of the population of Utrecht is divorced. For 62.8% of the population of Utrecht both parents were born in the Netherlands. Approximately 12.4% of

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4402-408: The railway station, the station's bus stops are changing frequently. As a general rule, westbound buses depart from the bus station on the west entrance, other buses from the east side station. Local buses in Utrecht are operated by Qbuzz ; its services include a high-frequency service to the Uithof university district. The local bus fleet is one of Europe's cleanest, using only buses compliant with

4473-538: The right to appoint new bishops. In 1559 the bishopric of Utrecht was raised to archbishopric to make it the religious centre of the Northern ecclesiastical province in the Seventeen Provinces. The transition from independence to a relatively minor part of a larger union was not easily accepted. To quell uprisings, Charles V struggled to exert his power over the city's citizens who had struggled to gain

4544-488: The several large institutions located in the city. It is the centre of the Dutch railway network and the location of the head office of Nederlandse Spoorwegen . ProRail is headquartered in De Inktpot  [ nl ] (The Inkwell), the largest brick building in the Netherlands (the "UFO" featured on its façade stems from an art program in 2000). Rabobank , a large bank, has its headquarters in Utrecht. Utrecht

4615-412: The studio incubator program Dutch Game Garden , which has launched a number of studios in the area. By 2014 the program had created 200 jobs. Utrecht is also home to Nixxes Software (a PlayStation Studios subsidiary) as well as Sokpop Collective . Utrecht hosts several large institutions of higher education. The most prominent of these is Utrecht University (est. 1636), the largest university of

4686-542: The top 10 of the world's unsung places. Although there is some evidence of earlier inhabitation in the region of Utrecht, dating back to the Stone Age (app. 2200 BCE ) and settling in the Bronze Age (app. 1800–800 BCE), the founding date of the city is usually related to the construction of a Roman fortification ( castellum ), probably built in around 50 CE . A series of such fortresses were built after

4757-403: The town became ever more canalized ; and the wharf system was built as an inner city harbour system. On the wharfs, storage facilities ( werfkelders ) were built, on top of which the main street, including houses, was constructed. The wharfs and the cellars are accessible from a platform at water level with stairs descending from the street level to form a unique structure. The relations between

4828-506: Was Latinized as Ultra Traiectum. Around the year 200, the wooden walls of the fortification were replaced by sturdier tuff stone walls, remnants of which are still to be found below the buildings around Dom Square. From the middle of the 3rd century, Germanic tribes regularly invaded the Roman territories. After around 275 the Romans could no longer maintain the northern border, and Utrecht

4899-527: Was abandoned. Little is known about the period from 270 to 650. Utrecht is first spoken of again several centuries after the Romans left. Under the influence of the growing realms of the Franks , during Dagobert I 's reign in the 7th century, a church was built within the walls of the Roman fortress. In ongoing border conflicts with the Frisians , this first church was destroyed. By the mid-7th century, British, English and Irish missionaries set out to convert

4970-580: Was built by Dudok . In addition to theatres, there is a large number of cinemas including three arthouse cinemas. Utrecht is host to the international Early Music Festival (Festival Oude Muziek, for music before 1800) and the Netherlands Film Festival . The city has an important classical music hall Vredenburg (1979 by Herman Hertzberger ). Its acoustics are considered among the best of the 20th-century original music halls. The original Vredenburg music hall has been redeveloped as part of

5041-429: Was developed as an extension of the city to the west. The area surrounding Utrecht Centraal railway station and the station itself were developed following modernist ideas of the 1960s, in a brutalist style. This development led to the construction of the shopping mall Hoog Catharijne  [ nl ] , the music centre Vredenburg ( Hertzberger , 1979), and conversion of part of the ancient canal structure into

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