UTRECHT, a province of Holland, bounded north by North Holland and the Zuyder Zee, east by Guelderland, south by Guelderland and South Holland, and west by South Holland, has an area of 534 square miles and a population (1886) of 212,454. It belongs chiefly to the basin of the Rhine: the Neder Rijn, which skirts its southern border, after sending off the Kromme Rijn at Wijk, becomes the Lek, and the Kromme Rijn, in its turn, after sending off the Vecht at Utrecht to the Zuyder Zee, assumes the name of the Oude Rijn. The northeastern portion of the province is drained by the Eem, which falls into the Zuyder Zee. In the west the province is flat and in many places below sea-level; towards the east, where the Veluwe begins, it is more undulating, and at Zeist reaches a height of 164 feet. The more productive region is in the west; towards the east the soil becomes sandy and heath-clad. Nearly half (46∙5 per cent.) of the total area is under grass; the chief agricultural products are corn (buckwheat) and tobacco; bee-keeping is extensively carried on in the east, and there is a bee market at Veenendaal. The province is traversed by railways to Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Leyden, and The Hague, Bois-le-duc, Arnheim, Zutphen, and Zwolle, all converging in Utrecht; it is also amply provided with navigable water-ways. Of the total population 62 per cent. are returned as Protestant, 37 per cent. as Roman Catholic, and 1 as Jewish. Besides Utrecht (see below), the capital, only one other town, Amersfoort, has a population exceeding 5000 (15,178 in 1887); but in density of population Utrecht ranks third among the provinces of Holland....
UTRECHT, capital of the above province, 22 miles by rail south-south-east from Amsterdam, 38 north-east from Rotterdam, and 35 nearly west from Arnheim, is situated at the point where the Kromme Rijn bifurcates into the Vecht and the Oude Rijn. The town is traversed by two canals or arms of the river, which are crossed by numerous bridges; it is surrounded by strong forts and strategically covers Amsterdam, though its old ramparts were demolished in 1830 and have given place to shady promenades. The streets are more regular, the squares more spacious, and the canals fewer than in most Dutch towns. Of its twenty churches the most important is the old cathedral of St Martin, a large Gothic building erected in 1254-67, on the site of the original structure founded by St Willibrord about 720 and completed by Bishop Adelbold about 1015. Only the choir, transept, and western tower (338 feet) now remain, the nave having been blown down by a violent hurricane (1st August 1674); the interior (30 feet wide and 115 feet in height) has been clumsily fitted up with pews and galleries for Protestant worship, so that the effect of its eighteen slender columns is almost entirely lost. On the south side are fine Gothic cloisters, adjoining which are the plain buildings of the university, founded in 1634 (with 41 professors and nearly 600 students); connected with the university are a valuable library (150,000 volumes), a museum of natural history, physical and chemical laboratories, a botanic garden, and an observatory. The town-hall (built in 1830) and the Museum Kunstliefde have small collections of pictures and other objects of art, and the archiepiscopal museum, opened in 1872, also contains excellent examples of the sacred art of the Netherlands. Among other buildings of interest may be mentioned the royal mint, and the Paushuizen (“pope’s house”), built by Adrian Floriszoon Boeyens, afterwards
Pope Adrian VI., a native of Utrecht, in 1517. Utrecht has excellent schools and several literary and scientific societies, besides barracks, a large military hospital, and a veterinary school. The most important industrial establishments are cigar-factories, manufactories of chemicals and earthenware, and brass-foundries. There is an active trade in the produce of the manufactures, and also in corn, cattle, butter, and cheese. To the east of the town is the Maliebaan or Mall, a triple avenue of trees about half a mile in length. The population of Utrecht in 1876 was 66,106, and in 1887 it was 79,166.
Utrecht (“Oude Trecht” or “old ford”), the Trajectum ad Rhe-num of the Itinerary of Antoninus, was known as Wiltaburg by the Frisians and Franks. Dagobert, king of the East Franks, built a chapel here in 630, and under St Willibrord Utrecht in 696 became an episcopal see. The bishops rose to great power during the Middle Ages, and the city was frequently an imperial residence. Conrad II. (1039) and Henry V. (1125) both died at Utrecht, and their hearts were buried in the crypt of the cathedral. The city was handed over to Charles V. by Bishop Henry in 1527. The first confederation of the Dutch provinces was formed in Utrecht in 1579. The celebrated peace of Utrecht between France and Great Britain, Savoy, Portugal, Prussia, and the states of Holland was concluded here on 11th April 1713. Utrecht has since 1723 been the headquarters of the Jansenists (q.v. ).
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