Bicycles, windmills, klompen, tulips… Try to list the main trademarks of Amsterdam. It will take you hours. But try to choose the most important thing from this list, and you will get the city canals.

The history of the Dutch capital waterways began with the history of the city itself in the 13th century. The first mention of Amsterdam dates back to 1275. Back then, locals had to dig small canals and create structures similar to modern dams to make the marshland habitable.

By the 16th century, Amsterdam had become an important commercial port city, and in the 17th century, it reached its heyday and the Golden Age in the economy and other facets. Thus, the local authorities decided to create a Ring of Canals (Grachtengordel) to frame the city and expand its territory, improving the infrastructure and transport interchange. It is unlikely that they planned that the new canals would become the hallmark of the capital, and the city itself would become so picturesque. But that's how it turned out.

No one knows the exact number of canals in Amsterdam. According to the most conservative estimates, there are more than a hundred canals. But only a small part of them is of great historic importance for the city.

The main canals in Amsterdam are the Singel, the Herengracht, the Keizersgracht, and the Prinsengracht. They form the typical look of the city and are a kind of direction signs that guide tourists.

The Singel was created in the first half of the 15th century as a city moat. Today, it is one of the four inner canals that encircle the center of Amsterdam. The construction of the other three central canals began at the beginning of the 17th century. The Herengracht is named after the regents (Heren Regeerders) who ruled Amsterdam, the Keizersgracht – after Emperor Maximilian I, and the Prinsengracht – after William of Orange, nicknamed "the Silent."