River The Amstel

The Amstel (named Aeme-stelle, an Old Dutch word for "watery area") is a canalized river on the border of North Holland with South Holland and Utrecht. The area along the river is referred to as Amstelland. Amsterdam owes its name to the Amstel.
In the Middle Ages, the population began to cultivate the peat from the river: the peat land was used for agricultural purposes. The oldest settlement along the Amstel is probably Ouderkerk, which is about two centuries older than Amsterdam.

Later, peat was also harvested; the dug-up peat was processed into peat and used as fuel. This likely led to the establishment around the beginning of the thirteenth century of the peat workers' hamlet Amstelveen in the peat area west of Ouderkerk.
Through the construction of a dam in the 13th century at the mouth of the river (under the present Dam), the fishing village "Amstelredam" developed in the northern part of the river, the oldest mention of which dates back to October 27, 1275, and which acquired city rights shortly after 1300.
The hamlet grew into the city of Amsterdam, which, due to its location by the Zuiderzee with sea connections on one side and the southern river connection with Dordrecht and Antwerp on the other, became the most important port city in the Netherlands in the 17th century.
Every March, the Amstel is the scene of the most important long-distance rowing competition in the Netherlands: the Head of the River Amstel.

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