Did you know there are 165 canals in Amsterdam?
There are 3 big canals: Prinsengracht, Keizersgracht, and Herengracht. Among the three, Herengracht has the most luxurious houses along it.
WOW Fact: The water quality in the canals is so good that there are around 65 different fish species in it. Among them are lobsters 🦞 and salmon. Some fishes are even export products for French cuisine 😋
Guess the taste of the water: salty or sweet? Answer: Both!
A bit of history: The city with canals was built in 1601. At the end of 16th century, refugees from other parts of Europe came to Amsterdam. The city was also getting more prosperous from its trading activities. So they needed bigger space to live.
Architecture side: Apparently it wasn’t easy to build canal houses. The bottom ground is sands. So they inserted tree logs into the ground. It needed about 6 strong men for each log. Then, after 90 logs, they put a plank on them and the usual house construction.
So we can say that underneath the current canal area is a forest 🤔
That’s it: my trip today to the Museum of the Canals – Het Grachtenmuseum.
Sambal Kroepoek 