''Gracht'' (; plural: ''grachten'') is a
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
word for a
canal
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...
within a city.
''Grachten'' often have a round shape, and form a circle around the city cores in the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
,
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
, and northern
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. Outside the Netherlands, the word ''grachten'' mostly refers to the city canals of Amsterdam (for which it is well known) and also Utrecht, Leiden and The Hague. The Koninginnegracht in The Hague was conceived by King Willem I for the promotion of tourism in the early 19th century. Since 2009 the Willemsvaart once more offers tours over this ''gracht'', to Scheveningen, known as "StrandRelax" or "BeachRelax", a unique stretch of sand between The Hague and the sea.
Translation
The word ''gracht'' cannot be easily
translated
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...
; for this reason, it is necessary to distinguish between four related terms:
* A ' (city-canal) is a waterway in the
city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
with one-way
streets on both sides of the water. The streets are lined with
houses, often in a closed front. In rare cases, there is only one street, and on the other side of the waterway, the houses border on the water.
* A ' (literally meaning
canal
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...
) is a man-made watercourse, usually in the
countryside
In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are descri ...
, with or without streets along its
banks
A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets.
Becaus ...
.
* A ' is a canal used for
transport
Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipelin ...
, rather than for other purposes such as
drainage
Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of a surface's water and sub-surface water from an area with excess of water. The internal drainage of most agricultural soils is good enough to prevent severe waterlogging (anaerobic condition ...
. Like most ''kanalen'', they are usually in the countryside.
* A ' is by origin a water-filled
moat which surrounds a city for
defense purposes. When the city expands, the singel is incorporated in the city's structure and can no longer be distinguished from a ''gracht'', but the name ''singel'' is usually maintained. As such, ''singel''s often encircle (older) parts of the city. However, in other cases regular ''grachten'' were dug in circles as well, like the famous
Grachtengordel
The Grachtengordel (, "canal belt (girdle);" known in English as the Canal District) is a neighborhood in Amsterdam, Netherlands located in the Centrum district. The seventeenth-century canals of Amsterdam, located in the center of Amsterdam, we ...
(literal translation: ''grachten'' belt) of Amsterdam.
Although the word ''gracht'' means "canal" or "waterway" in the general sense, there is no exact equivalent for the term in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
.
Etymology
The word ''gracht'' stems from the older word ''graft'', which is derived from ''graven'', to dig (cf. English "
grave
A grave is a location where a dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as grav ...
"). The Dutch language has had a sound shift in which the combination -ft became -cht. Other examples are ''lucht'' (German: ''Luft'', air) and ''zacht'' (English: soft). In some regional languages such as
Frisian and
Gronings
Gronings (; gos, Grunnegs or Grönnegs), is a collective name for some Friso-Saxon dialects spoken in the province of Groningen and around the Groningen border in Drenthe and Friesland. Gronings and the strongly related varieties in East ...
, the word ''graft'' is still used.
In Dutch, the word ''gracht'' is used only when canals are located inside the city, while canals outside a city are called ''kanaal''. However,
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...
is an exception. In Dutch, one does not say "''de grachten van Venetië''" (the city-canals of Venice), but "''de kanalen van Venetië''" (the canals of Venice).
[Tourist guid]
voorbeginners.info
speaks of "kanalen" not of "grachten" when it describes Venice in Dutch.
Toponyms
Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...
for grachten are usually made by the suffixes ''-gracht'', ''-singel'' (which refers to the old circle-shaped canals), ''-wal'' (referring to the bank of the gracht), ''-vest'' (referring to a fortification), and ''-kade'' (
Southern Dutch: ''-kaai''; quay). The suffix ''-diep'' is used in Groningen where it is a local word for a large canal.
When a ''gracht'' is a remake of an old river, the river's name is used.
History
''Grachten'' were the life-lines of Dutch and Flemish cities. They were used for many purposes: for transportation, for draining, as water supply and as sewers, all at the same time. In heavily populated cities, these combined functions repeatedly proved to be detrimental to the public health.
Most
Hanseatic cities
The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label= Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German tow ...
have ''grachten'' to transport, to load and to land goods in and from ships. In the Netherlands, the northeastern cities of
Deventer,
Hindeloopen
Hindeloopen (; fry, Hylpen; Hindeloopen Frisian: ''Hielpen'' ) is an old city on the North of the Netherlands on the IJsselmeer. It lies within the municipality of Súdwest Fryslân. It is famous because of the Hindeloopen art and hindeloopen ...
,
Kampen,
Leeuwarden
Leeuwarden (; fy, Ljouwert, longname=yes /; Stadsfries dialects, Town Frisian: ''Liwwadden''; Leeuwarder dialect: ''Leewarden'') is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in Fri ...
,
Meppel,
Sneek
Sneek (; fy, Snits) is a city southwest of Leeuwarden and the seat of the former municipality of Sneek in the province of Friesland, Netherlands. As of 2011 it is the seat of the municipality of Súdwest-Fryslân (Southwest Friesland). T ...
,
Zutphen
Zutphen () is a city and municipality located in the province of Gelderland, Netherlands. It lies some 30 km northeast of Arnhem, on the eastern bank of the river Ijssel at the point where it is joined by the Berkel. First mentioned in th ...
and
Zwolle
Zwolle () is a city and municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Overijssel and the province's second-largest municipality after Enschede with a population of 130,592 as of 1 December 2021. Zwolle is on ...
are renowned for their historical ''grachten''. Other cities in the Netherlands, in the western part of the country, are also touristic attractions because of their ''grachten'', especially
Alkmaar,
Amersfoort
Amersfoort () is a city and municipality in the province of Utrecht, Netherlands, about 20 km from the city of Utrecht and 40 km south east of Amsterdam. As of 1 December 2021, the municipality had a population of 158,531, making it the second- ...
,
Gouda,
Hoorn,
Leiden
Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wi ...
,
Utrecht
Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...
and
Weesp
Weesp () is a city, an urban area in the municipality of Amsterdam and a former municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It had a population of in . It lies on the river Vecht and next to the Amsterdam–Rhine Canal in an are ...
.
Sometimes ''grachten'' were made from older rivers, like in
Groningen. There the older river called
Drentse Aa was used as a natural part of the grachten. In
Delft, the main ''gracht'' – Oude Delft – started as a drainage canal for reclaiming land in marshy surroundings: in a period roughly around the year 1100, a canal was dug, making use of a natural creek in the marshy country. This canal was called ''Delf'', later on ''Delft'', from the word ''delven'' that is akin to the verb to
"delve" in English. This canal was used to drain the land at both sides; later on it also served as a waterway for transport.
Later, a second canal, called the ''Nieuwe Delft'' (New Delft) was dug through part of the settlement that had grown around the first. The original canal became known as the ''Oude Delft'' (Old Delft), a name it still bears today.
The rural village around ''Oude'' and ''Nieuwe Delft'' developed into a more urban area and the canals gradually acquired the character of city-canals or ''grachten''. A third canal was dug and also changed into a ''gracht''; it connected with the moat around the marketplace. The city and the ''grachten'' grew hand in hand. In 1246, this agglomeration was granted a
city charter
A city charter or town charter (generically, municipal charter) is a legal document ('' charter'') establishing a municipality such as a city or town. The concept developed in Europe during the Middle Ages.
Traditionally the granting of a charte ...
by the
Count of Holland and became the City of Delft. A natural waterway was later incorporated in the city and became a ''gracht'' as well. Circular canals or ''singels'' were dug and surrounded the city. Fortifications were built along these ''singels'' and fixed the shape of the historical inner city of Delft. The characteristic, narrow ''grachten'', perpendicular to the main ''grachten'', developed from ditches that had been dug to drain and delimit the fields which preceded the city.
When it was still a Dutch colony,
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
had a network of ''grachten'', that were fed by the springs at the base of
Table Mountain
Table Mountain ( naq, Huriǂoaxa, lit= sea-emerging; af, Tafelberg) is a flat-topped mountain forming a prominent landmark overlooking the city of Cape Town in South Africa. It is a significant tourist attraction, with many visitors using the ...
. These provided water and sanitation for the infant town. In the ensuing centuries, the ''grachten'' were covered over, but many of the prominent streets in the modern city centre still bear their names (notably the Heerengracht, Keizersgracht, Buitengracht and Buitensingel). There is currently a project to restore some of these historic waterways.
A function in almost every city was
drainage
Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of a surface's water and sub-surface water from an area with excess of water. The internal drainage of most agricultural soils is good enough to prevent severe waterlogging (anaerobic condition ...
. Rainwater flowed through these city-canals. Usually they were also used as a sewer. Because these functions are not needed any more, many ''grachten'' have been filled in to give access to road traffic. However, these new streets have mostly retained the names of the ''grachts'' and ''singels'' they covered or replaced.
File:Holland and the Hollanders - Amsterdam - the Heeren Gracht.png, Heerengracht in 1872
File:Dordrecht Pelserbrug.jpg, Dordrecht
Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after R ...
File:Leidsevaart Haarlem.jpg, Haarlem
File:Leiden, de Marekerk RM25069 met de Marebrug foto7 2017-06-11 09.40.jpg, Leiden
Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wi ...
File:Panoramic view of the Zwolle canals (Thorbecke gracht) with old ships and a nice sky - panoramio.jpg, Zwolle
Zwolle () is a city and municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Overijssel and the province's second-largest municipality after Enschede with a population of 130,592 as of 1 December 2021. Zwolle is on ...
References
{{Authority control
Canals
Water transport infrastructure
Waterways in the Netherlands
Dutch words and phrases