The Vecht is a Rhine branch in the Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 province of Utrecht

Utrecht (province)

Utrecht is the smallest province of the Netherlands in terms of area, and is located in the centre of the country. It is bordered by the Eemmeer in the north, Gelderland in the east, the river Rhine in the south, South Holland in the west, and North Holland in the northwest...

. It is sometimes called Utrechtse Vecht to avoid confusion with its Overijssel counterpart. The area along the river is called the "Vechtstreek

Vechtstreek

The Vechtstreek is a region in the Dutch provinces of Utrecht and North Holland along the Vecht River between the towns of Utrecht and Amsterdam...

".

The Vecht originates in the city of Utrecht

Utrecht (city)

Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...

, where the Kromme Rijn

Kromme Rijn

The Kromme Rijn is a river in Utrecht , Netherlands.In Roman times, this northernmost branch of the Rhine delta was the main distributary of this major European river...

 stream forks into two branches: the Leidse Rijn

Leidse Rijn

The Leidse Rijn is a canal in the province of Utrecht, Netherlands.It was dug since the Middle Ages when the meandering old Rhine course silted up....

/Oude Rijn branch to the west and the Vecht to the north. Originally the Vecht branched off south of the city near the Roman fort Fectio

Fectio

Fectio was a Roman castellum in the province Germania Inferior established in the year 4 or 5 AD. It was located at the place where the river Vecht branched off from the Rhine, leading to Lake Flevo, which was later to become the Zuiderzee...

, flowing eastwards around the city, but in the 12th century a northern shortcut was dug out.

The Vecht twists and turns north past the towns and villages of Maarssen

Maarssen

Maarssen is a town and former municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht, along the river Vecht. It lies in an area called the Vechtstreek.On January 1, 2011 Maarssen merged with Breukelen and Loenen to Stichtse Vecht....

, Breukelen

Breukelen

Breukelen is a town and former municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. It is situated to the north west of Utrecht, along the river Vecht and close to the lakes of the Loosdrechtse Plassen, an area of natural and touristic interest...

 and Nigtevecht, crosses the border into the province of North Holland

North Holland

North Holland |West Frisian]]: Noard-Holland) is a province situated on the North Sea in the northwest part of the Netherlands. The provincial capital is Haarlem and its largest city is Amsterdam.-Geography:...

, passes the town of Weesp

Weesp

Weesp is a town and a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It has a population of 17,533 .Weesp lies next to the rivers de Vecht and Smal Weesp and also next to the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal. It is in an area called the "Vechtstreek"...

 and discharges into the Markermeer

Markermeer

The Markermeer is a lake in the central Netherlands in between North Holland, Flevoland and its larger sibling, the IJsselmeer. A shallow lake at some 3 to 5 m in depth, it is named after the small former island, now peninsula, of Marken that lies within it...

 (Lake Marken

Marken

Marken is a peninsula in the IJsselmeer, the Netherlands, located in the municipality Waterland in the province North Holland. It is an island, which nowadays is connected to the North Holland mainland by a causeway. Also, Marken is a well-known tourist attraction, well-known for its characteristic...

, part of the former Zuiderzee) at Muiden

Muiden

Muiden is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It lies at the mouth of the Vecht and is in an area called the Vechtstreek.-Population centres :...

. The Amsterdam-Rijnkanaal (Amsterdam-Rhine Canal

Amsterdam-Rhine Canal

The Amsterdam–Rhine Canal or Amsterdam-Rijnkanaal is a canal in the Netherlands that was built to connect the port city of Amsterdam to the main shipping artery of the Rhine...

) was dug in the Vecht basin.

The Roman

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

 historian Tacitus

Tacitus

Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...

 tells us that in the first century CE, a Roman fleet sailed due north down a Rhine branch, then sailed past Lake Flevo (now the Markermeer and IJsselmeer

IJsselmeer

IJsselmeer is a shallow artificial lake of 1100 km² in the central Netherlands bordering the provinces of Flevoland, North Holland and Friesland, with an average depth of 5 to 6 m. The IJsselmeer is the largest lake in Western Europe....

 lakes) into the North Sea

North Sea

In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...

; since the river IJssel

IJssel

River IJssel , sometimes called Gelderse IJssel to avoid confusion with its Hollandse IJssel namesake in the west of the Netherlands, is a branch of the Rhine in the Dutch provinces of Gelderland and Overijssel...

 was not yet connected to the Rhine in those days, it is assumed they sailed on river Vecht.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, many country estates known as "buitenplaats

Buitenplaats

A buitenplaats was a summer residence for rich townspeople in the Netherlands. During the Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century, many traders and city administrators in Dutch towns became very wealthy...

" were built on the banks of the Vecht by rich merchants and administrators from Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

.