During a 50-year project in the 17th century Amsterdam grew to four times its previous size, becoming the 3rd largest city in the world after London and Paris.

Central to that plan was the Canal Belt, a network of concentric canals that is now UNESCO listed.

Built on reclaimed land, Amsterdam is a feat of ingenuity, and still crackles with the ambition, cultural tolerance and enterprise that drove the 17th-century Golden Age when the Netherlands led the world in trade, maritime power, culture and economic might.