What to See in Utrecht - Top Sights and Attractions

World Heritage-listed De Stijl house. The Rietveld Schröder House in Utrecht was built in 1924 by Dutch architect Gerrit Rietveld for Mrs. Truus Schröder-Schräder and her three children.

She commissioned the house to be designed preferably without walls. Both Rietveld and Schröder espoused progressive ideals that included "a fierce commitment to a new openness about relationships within their own families and to truth in their emotional lives. Bourgeois notions of respectability and propriety, with their emphasis on discipline, hierarchy, and containment would be eliminated through architectural design that countered each of these aspects in a conscious and systematic way." Rietveld worked side by side with Schröder-Schräder to create the house. He sketched the first possible design for the building; Schröder-Schrader was not pleased. She envisioned a house that was free from association and could create a connection between the inside and outside. The house is one of the best known examples of De Stijl-architecture and arguably the only true De Stijl building. Mrs. Schröder lived in the house until her death in 1985. The house was restored by Bertus Mulder and now is a museum open for visits, run by the Centraal Museum. It is a listed monument since 1976 and UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000.^[2]

Pre-Reformation Gothic cathedral. St. Martin's Cathedral, Utrecht, or Dom Church, is a Gothic church dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours, which was the cathedral of the Diocese of Utrecht during the Middle Ages. It is the country's only pre-Reformation cathedral, but has been a Protestant church since 1580.

It was once the Netherlands' largest church, but the nave collapsed in a storm in 1674 and has never been rebuilt, leaving the tower isolated from the east end.

The building is the one church in the Netherlands that closely resembles the style of classic Gothic architecture as developed in France. All other Gothic churches in the Netherlands belong to one of the many regional variants. Unlike most of its French predecessors, the building has only one tower, the 112-metre-high (367 ft) Dom Tower, which is the hallmark of the city.^[4]

River in the Netherlands. The Oudegracht, or "old canal", runs through the center of Utrecht, the Netherlands. It starts in the southeast of the city. Here the Kromme Rijn and the Vaartse Rijn arrive to meet the original moat of the fortified town, and the Oudegracht goes from there into the center of town. Parts of the Oudegracht follow the original flow of the river Rhine, but there is some disagreement on what parts. The northern part is most likely an early canal connecting the Rhine section to the river Vecht. The southern part was started in 1122, after the water level of the Rhine in Utrecht dropped because of the new dam at Wijk bij Duurstede. The ground excavated was used to raise the sides of the canal, to reduce the chance of flooding. When the city's system of locks was finished in 1275 the water level was constant, enabling the creation of permanently dry cellars and new quays at water level, hence the typical wharfs below street level. Warehouses used to line the canal. Today many of these warehouses have been converted into restaurants and cafés.^[6]

Displays on local history, art and fashion. The Centraal Museum is the main museum in Utrecht, Netherlands, founded in 1838. The museum has a wide-ranging collection, mainly of works produced locally. The collection of the paintings by the Northern Mannerist Joachim Wtewael is by a long way the largest anywhere in the world. Other highlights are many significant paintings by the Utrecht Caravaggisti, such as Gerard van Honthorst and Hendrick ter Brugghen. Both of them travelled to Rome in the early 17th century to study the works of the Italian master Caravaggio. In the previous generation, as well as Wtewael, Abraham Bloemaert and the portraitist Paulus Moreelse were the most significant Utrecht painters, with Jan van Scorel still earlier.^[13]

Mosque in Utrecht, Netherlands. The Ulu Mosque in Utrecht is located at the Mosque square; the first square or street in the Netherlands named after an Islamic religious building. Besides the Islamic prayer hall, the building also host a room for contemplation for people from any other denomination. The board of the mosque decided to create such a room, unique in the world, since the neighborhood surrounding the mosque has also a substantial Christian and Jewish population. There are some shops at ground floor level. The mosque is maintained by the Islamitische Stichting Nederland. Funding is however based on donations from the Turkish communities in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. The main prayer room is at the second floor, and has two large balconies for women. The glass brick minarets are lighted with light after sunset. The mosque was formally opened in October 2015.^[16]

Church in Utrecht, Netherlands. St. Willibrord's Church, Utrecht, is a Roman Catholic church, operated by the traditionalist Society of Saint Pius X, dedicated to Saint Willibrord situated in Utrecht in the Netherlands, Minrebroederstraat 21. This church is a Rijksmonument since 1976 and is currently owned by the Sint Willibrordus Stichting, founded by father Winand Kotte A.A. The church is near the Dom Church in the historical centre of Utrecht, the Saint Willibrord church is known as a hidden treasure in the city. It is a fine example of gothic revival churches in The Netherlands. Built in the nineteenth century, the interior was finalized towards the end of that century. The church has a well known organ built by Maarschalkerweerd.^[20]