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When the summer is in the city, the city lights up. This proved particularly true when I was in Utrecht recently. Utrecht is one of the older cities in the Netherlands like Nijmegen and  Maastricht. When the Romans conquered Europe and arrived in the Netherlands, they built fortresses, posts and storages connected by roads. In the ages of horses and wagons a flat stone road was the highway. Emperor Claudius founded Utrecht as Trajectum below the Rhine.

Utrecht is home to the Bishop of Utrecht and its connected territories. In fact, before the Dutch people chased out the former Spanish ruler with his armies the Bishop of Utrecht was very powerful. Utrecht is in the heart of the Netherlands, multiple waters, streams, grounds and waterworks meet there and there have been plenty of roads for centuries. The dukes and counts of the other territories in the Middle Ages always had to respect Utrecht at the cost of armed conflict.

Utrecht is home to chapels, churches, a cathedral and Catholic facilities of various kinds. This includes the University of Utrecht and the  many monuments scattered through the city. Before The Hague became the diplomatic city of politics in the Netherlands, Utrecht was a city of great political importance. Today Utrecht still is important as its central location, connections and its heritage are valuable. Also in 2015 the Tour de France is going to start in Utrecht.

P.S. There are eight-teen pictures in the slide show. I got a bit carried away. Next time I will limit the number to a maximum of ten.