Amsterdam, The Netherlands City. Bustling Amsterdam, capital of The Netherlands, is famous for its scenic canals, countless bridges, and stately old houses. Ships sailing out of Amsterdam's harbor in order to conduct lucrative trade across the vast oceans made Amsterdam a great commercial and financial center. An elaborate system of dams, dikes, pumps, and canals keeps the water from rushing in over the city and the surrounding countryside. The inland lake called the IJsselmeer, near Amsterdam, was formerly a bay of the Atlantic Ocean called the Zuider Zee.
Canals extend in a cobweb pattern through every part of old Amsterdam.
They were dug first as moats around the city walls and later as a system of waterways that made it possible for people to travel about by boat. The main canals form concentric rings around the inner city. Using these and the smaller canals that crisscross them, a boat can move easily between parts of the city. Streets crowded with cars, bicycles, and pedestrians weave among the waterways by means of more than a thousand bridges. The older buildings stand on timber piles driven into the soft earth for support.