Catharijnesingel

The Catharijnesingel is a street in, and part of the historic moat in the Dutch city of Utrecht. The Catharijne singel is the long straight stretch of the harp shaped city moat in the West of the city. The street and canal run from the Ledig Erf and Westerkade to the Smakkelaarsveld and Daalsesingel into which it merges. The canal runs under Hoog Catharijne shopping center, which contains transparent glass panels giving visitors to Hoog Catharijne a view of the boats moving below.

In the middle ages and early modernity Utrecht was a fortified city in which the moat with its walls and bastions were central to and restrictive of city development. Only in the 19th century, when the New Dutch Waterline was constructed east of Utrecht did it loose its military function. In 1830 the walls were demolished and the area around the moat was transformed into the English style park Zocherplantsoen, named after its architect Jan David Zocher jr.

In the second half of the 20th century it was decided to replace the water in the Catharijnesingel with a motorway. In 1973, the original canal was drained and replaced with the Catharijnebaan, which was a short sunken city highway in the city center of Utrecht that was closed to traffic in 2010 as part of an urban development project to make Utrecht safer for pedestrians. Restoration of the old moat structure commenced in 2000 and the motorway has been converted into a moat with adjacent park. In 2020, the canal was restored and opened to the public, allowing boats to circle the old center of the city once more. The restoration project was distinguished with the European Prize for Urban Public Space.