Utrecht is a sparkling city. You can attend a festival or event. Culture lovers find their way in museums, the City-theatre and Vredenburg. Going out in Utrecht is always sociable.Utrecht is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands,
with a population over 0.25 million. Utrecht’s central location in the Netherlands makes it an attractive city to live in and a favourite enterprise location.

Utrecht has a rich history that goes back to the beginning
of our calendar. The old inner-city, with its canals and
cellars by the wharves, ancient churches, and of course
the Dom tower, give the city a distinctive character.

Utrecht is a centre of learning.
Utrecht University is the largest in the Netherlands. More than 60,000 students are enrolled in higher education in Utrecht. As such, the composition of its population is rather young and
Utrecht has the highest educated labour force in the
Netherlands.

Utrecht is on the move.
Apart from plans to redevelop the area around the Central Station, Utrecht is building the largest housing area in the country (on one of the so-called Vinex locations). More than 30,000 houses will be completed in the district of Leidsche Rijn in the coming years, housing about 73,000 people. Utrecht’s population will increase to about 340,000 in 2020.

www.centraalmuseum.nl
The emphasis at this convent-turned-museum is on an impressive collection of Dutch modern art and Dutch 20th-century applied art from the De Stijl group, displayed in the former stables on the grounds. Elsewhere are historical displays about Utrecht, including a preserved Viking longboat found in the city that dates from around 1100, and an exquisite dollhouse from 1680. Then there are paintings by artists of the 16th-century Utrecht school, in particular those of Jan van Scorel (1495-1562), whose group portraits planted the seeds of a genre that would flower in Holland in the next century.

www.domkerk.nl
This magnificent cathedral took almost 3 centuries to build, from 1254 to 1517. The original Romanesque structure was replaced bit by bit; first the choir, then the tower, and finally the nave and transepts. The nave collapsed during a violent storm in 1674 and was never reconstructed; the choir and transepts survived and remain disconnected from the tower . The cathedral interior bears traces of the fierce wave of iconoclasm that spread over Holland in the second half of the 16th century. There's a battered altarpiece in one of the side chapels. A sandstone Holy Sepulcher, dated 1501, shows a defaced Christ in a tomb under a badly damaged Gothic arch.

Other worthwhile sights nearby are Bisschopes Hof, or Bishop's Garden (daily 11am-5pm); and Dom Kloostergang, a cloister arcade constructed in the 15th century, with magnificent stained-glass windows depicting scenes from the legend of St. Martin. The cathedral cloisters are connected to the former Hall of the Chapter, where the signing of the 1579 Union of Utrecht (which united the seven Protestant Dutch provinces in their rebellion against Catholic Spanish rule) took place.

www.domtoren.nl
The cathedral's 110m (365-ft.) tower, constructed between 1321 and 1383, dominates Utrecht's skyline and is the tallest in the Netherlands. It stands on the site of St. Willibrord's original 8th-century church and across a square from its mother building, since the nave collapsed during the great storm of 1674, leaving the tower unharmed. In the paving on the square, you can see the outline of the missing section. One of the best views of Utrecht is from the top of the tower, a climb of 465 steps if you have the stamina and the inclination (about halfway up is the 14th-c. St. Michael's Chapel where you can stop and ease the panting!). The climb goes past the church carillon's 50 massive bells you hear all through your stay in Utrecht. Restored and extended in 1999, the carillon has since then been Europe's largest. Its bourdon (largest bell) weighs 10,000 kilograms (9.8 tons) and has a diameter of 2.7m (9 ft.).

www.catherijneconvent.nl
Housed in the old St. Catherine's Convent, this exceptional collection of medieval religious art -- paintings, relics, carvings, and church robes -- helps illustrate the development of Christianity in Holland from the 8th century onward. The courtyard of the convent where the museum is housed has a cafe terrace where you can take a meditative pause.

www.spoorwegmuseum.nl
You don't have to be a rail buff to be fascinated by this former rail station and its marvelous collection of more than 60 steam engines, carriages, and wagons. There are moving models, paintings, and films relating to train travel. The multimedia section should have you and the kids stuck to your seats with presentations on the latest high-speed trains, such as the Thalys and the TGV.

www.rietveldschroderhuis.nl
Constructed in 1924, this family home was something of a shocker at the time and represents a high point of the De Stijl movement that so influenced contemporary art. It was designed by Utrecht architect and designer Gerrit Rietveld (1888-1964) -- famous for his angular, red-and-blue chair (1918) -- and a female would-be architect, Truus Schröder (at the time it was virtually impossible for a woman to work as an architect). The plaster exterior bears De Stijl's signature red, yellow, blue, and gray tones, and the innovative interior is a model of space-saving and efficiency. Rietveld and Schröder both lived here until their deaths. The house was restored in 1985 and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, owned by the Centraal Museum. The tour operated by the museum takes in the Rietveld Model Home, at Erasmuslaan 9 in Utrecht.