The Canals of Treviso

Treviso is a city in Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 82,854 inhabitants (as of November 2010): some 3,000 live within the Venetian walls (le Mura) or in the historical and monumental center, some 80,000 live in the urban center proper while the city hinterland has a population of approximately 170,000. The city is home to the headquarters of clothing retailer Benetton, Diadora and Lotto Sport Italia, appliance maker De'Longhi, and bicycle maker Pinarello.

Treviso is also known for being the original production area of the Prosecco wine, and being the town where popular Italian dessert Tiramisu was created.

Like Venice, Treviso has canals, but unlike Venice does not have gondolas or more importantly the mad rushing tourists which makes it a very pleasant place to visit. Walking the many small streets traversing the few canals there are scenes you will see that remind you of a painting …. apart from the large crane that was in operation. It is not as touristic as Venice but has all the other great attributes such as wonderful Italian food and local wine. 

Brugge Canals

Because of the many canals in Brugge it has sometimes been called The Venice of the North. Today these canals are not used commercially but are used for boat tours which allow you see many of the sights of Brugge and give you a different perspective of the town. During a half-hour boat trip on the canals of Brugge you are treated to some fantastic views over monuments and historical buildings and you can experience aspects of Brugge you would never be able to have when walking. Visiting Brugge from one of the boats on the canals means experiencing Brugge from a totally different angle, it is a relaxed way of taking in breathtaking impressions of Brugge.

Medieval Style Living in Brugge

This is a wonderful example of a medieval style house on the banks of the canals in Brugge. The easiest way to move around and acquaint yourself with the layout and architecture of the town is to take one of the boat tours along the canals. 

Brugge is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country.

The historic city centre is a prominent World Heritage Site of UNESCO. It is egg-shaped and about 430 hectares in size. The area of the whole city amounts to more than 13,840 hectares, including 1,075 hectares off the coast, at Zeebrugge (meaning "Brugge aan Zee" or "Bruges on Sea"). The city's total population is 117,073 (1 January 2008), of which around 20,000 live in the historic centre. The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, covers an area of 616 km² and has a total of 255,844 inhabitants as of 1 January 2008.

Along with a few other canal-based northern cities, such as Amsterdam, it is sometimes referred to as "The Venice of the North".

Venice of The North

Amsterdam has been called Venice of The North as it has over 100km of canals, 90 islands and 1500 bridges. The three main canals, Herengracht, Prinsengracht, and Keizersgracht, dug in the 17th century during the Dutch Golden Age, form concentric belts around the city, known as the grachtengordel. Much of the Amsterdam canal system is the successful outcome of city planning. In the early part of the 17th century, with immigration at a height, a comprehensive plan was put together, calling for four main, concentric half-circles of canals with their ends resting on the IJ bay. 
Known as the "grachtengordel", three of the canals are mostly for residential development (Herengracht or ‘’Patricians' Canal’’; Keizersgracht or ‘’Emperor's Canal’’; and Prinsengracht or ‘’Prince's Canal’’), and a fourth, outer canal, the present Nassau/Stadhouderskade, for purposes of defense and water management. The plan also envisaged interconnecting canals along radii; a set of parallel canals in the Jordaan quarter (primarily for the transportation of goods, for example, beer); the conversion of an existing, inner perimeter canal (Singel) from a defensive purpose to residential and commercial development; and more than one hundred bridges. 
The defensive purpose of the Nassau/Stadhouderskade was served by moat and earthen dikes, with gates at transit points but otherwise no masonry superstructures. Construction proceeded from west to east, across the breadth of the layout, like a gigantic windshield wiper as the historian Geert Mak calls it – not from the center outwards as a popular myth has it. Construction of the north-western sector was started in 1613 and was finished around 1625. After 1664, building in the southern sector was started, although slowly because of an economic depression. The eastern part of the concentric canal plan, covering the area between the Amstel river and the IJ bay, was not implemented for a long time. In the following centuries, the land went mostly for park, the Botanical garden, old age homes, theaters and other public facilities – and for waterways without much plan. Several parts of the city and of the urban area are polders, recognisable by their postfix -meer meaning 'lake', such as Aalsmeer, Bijlmermeer, Haarlemmermeer, and Watergraafsmeer.