Vecht (Utrecht)

The Vecht (pronounced [vɛxt] ⓘ) is a Rhine branch in the Dutch province of Utrecht.

It is sometimes called Utrechtse Vecht to avoid confusion with its Overijssel counterpart.

The Vecht meanders north past the towns and villages of Maarssen, Breukelen and Nigtevecht, crosses the border into the province of North Holland, passes the city of Weesp and discharges into the IJmeer (Lake IJ, part of the former Zuiderzee) at Muiden.

The Roman historian Tacitus 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 lakes) into the North Sea.

In the 17th and 18th centuries many country estates, known as buitenplaatsen,[1] were built on the banks of the Vecht by rich merchants and administrators from Amsterdam.