Atlas Amstelland : biography of a landscape

Atlas of Amstelland presents the history of Amstelland through a series of maps. These illustrate the development of this landscape from a desolate marsh to medieval reclamations, from estate landscape to much loved green oasis on the edge of Amsterdam. The peat marsh on the edge of the world was gradually reclaimed from the 11th century onwards; a section of the Amstel even originated as a drainage canal. In the centuries that followed, Amsterdam was transformed into one of the largest metropolises in Europe. The proximity of the city introduced major changes. Much of the landscape was transformed by underwater peat extraction, to subsequently fall dry again, thanks to urban investments. Its low peat lands could be easily inundated, changing them into a virtually impenetrable barrier around Amsterdam. It was the culmination of centuries of ever more intense relations between city and countryside, making it impossible to understand the one without also studying the other.