The Leidsevaart (also known as Leidse trekvaart, Dutch for "Leiden's Pull-Canal") is a

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...

between the cities of

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...

and

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

in the Netherlands. It was dug in 1657, making it one of the oldest canals in the Netherlands. It was the major means of transport between Leiden and Haarlem for almost two centuries until the rail connection was established in the 19th century. The original stops along the railway mirrored the toll bridges of the canal. The canal runs through or borders the municipalities of Haarlem,

Heemstede Heemstede () is a town and a municipality in the Western Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. In 2021, it had a population of 27,545. Located just south of the city of Haarlem on the border with South Holland, it is one of the richest ...

Bloemendaal Bloemendaal () is a municipality and town in the Western Netherlands, in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland. Bloemendaal is, together with Wassenaar, the wealthiest place in the Netherlands. It is located just west of Haa ...

Hillegom Hillegom () is a town and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Western Netherlands, in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland. Hillegom is part of an area called the Duin- en Bollenstreek ("Dune and Bulb Regi ...

Noordwijkerhout Noordwijkerhout () is a town and former municipality in the western part of the Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The town is currently part of the municipality of Noordwijk and lies in the bulb-growing region (the Duin- en Bollenstree ...

Lisse Lisse () is a town and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland in the Western Netherlands. The municipality, which lies within the Duin- en Bollenstreek, covers an area of of ...

Teylingen Teylingen () is a municipality in the Western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. It was created on 1 January 2006, through the amalgamation of Sassenheim, Voorhout and Warmond. It is named after Teylingen Castle, located in Voorhout. I ...

Oegstgeest Oegstgeest () is a town and municipality in the province of South Holland in the western Netherlands. Its population was in . Etymology The portion ''geest'' in the name refers to the Geest, geest lands, which were excavated in the seventeent ...

, and Leiden.

History

The Leidsevaart was the extension of the ''

Haarlemmertrekvaart The Haarlemmertrekvaart �haːrlɛmərˈtrɛkfaːrt(Haarlem's Tow-Canal) is a canal between Amsterdam and Haarlem in the province of North Holland, the Netherlands. It was dug in 1631, making it the oldest tow-canal in Holland. Travel on such ...

'' (Haarlem's Pull-Canal) connecting

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

to Haarlem. Travel on these canals was done by

trekschuit Trekschuit (; , 'tugged boat') is an old style of sail- and horse-drawn boat specific to the Netherlands, where it was used for centuries as a means of passenger traffic between cities along ''trekvaarten'', or tow-canals. History The first ...

for people, and by

barge A barge is typically a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and ocean, marine water environments. The firs ...

for goods, which were pulled by animals (and sometimes by man-power) on a

towpath A towpath is a road or trail on the bank of a river, canal, or other inland waterway. The purpose of a towpath is to allow a land vehicle, Working animal, beasts of burden, or a team of human pullers to tow a boat, often a barge. This mod ...

along the canal's edge. It was reliable, comfortable and cheap. The speed was about 7 kilometers per hour, which was faster than walking, and more comfortable than by

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

. Many wealthy Amsterdam families had summer homes along the Leidsevaart or

Spaarne The Spaarne is a river in North Holland, Netherlands. This partially canalized river connects the Ringvaart to a side branch of the North Sea Canal. It runs through Haarlem, Heemstede, and Spaarndam. The historic canals of Haarlem's moats are c ...

River, and they arrived with their heavy belongings by barge, often being pulled or sailed all the way to their door, as most summer estates had canals dug for this purpose. Even today the old canals are visible though probably too shallow for a trekschuit. The canal was kept up with toll money and taxes. Many estate owners spent money on making canal spurs to their doorstep and then had to pay taxes for fishing rights, "swan" keeping rights, or general canal use. The same was true for landowners whose lands were seized for digging the canal. They were compensated for the loss of the land strip taken up by the canal, but they had to pay for a bridge themselves. Trekschuit owners also had to pay taxes for using the canal. Taxes for traffic in people (by trekschuit) was heavier than taxes for traffic in goods (by barge).Full text of "Inventaris van het archief der stad Haarlem"
'640. II Oct. 1657''. Acte van Jac. van Wassenaer, heer van Warmond, over het leggen van de brug bij het Warmonderhek...''642. A°. 1659''. Opdragtbrieven aan de stad Haarlem van lan- den, gebruikt tot het graven van de Leidsche trekvaart...''1067. A°. 1657 — 1740''. Stukken over de visscherij in de Leidsche trekvaart...''1071''. Memoriaal rakende eenige gehouden besoignes met de Heren van Leiden, tot het maken van de nieuwe trekvaart; begonnen 16 Aug. 1655 en eindigende Junij 1656...''1078. A°, 1657 — 1795''. Rekeningen der trekvaart, (Haarlemse zijde). After the railway line from Leiden to Haarlem ( Oude Lijn) was built, many of these extra costs made trekschuit travel unattractive and the canal quickly fell in popularity from 1842 onwards. Due to the many drawbridges along its course that are no longer in operation, the Leidsevaart is unsuitable for boat traffic nowadays and therefore has fallen mostly in disuse.

Estates along the Leidsevaart

Oud Poelgeest Oud Poelgeest is a castle in Oegstgeest, north of Leiden, that was the former home of the Dutch scientist Herman Boerhaave (1668–1738). He was a Dutch humanist and physician of European fame. History The castle was built in 1668 on the found ...

, home to

Herman Boerhaave Herman Boerhaave (, 31 December 1668 – 23 September 1738Underwood, E. Ashworth. "Boerhaave After Three Hundred Years." ''The British Medical Journal'' 4, no. 5634 (1968): 820–25. .) was a Dutch chemist, botanist, Christian humanist, and ph ...

Keukenhof Keukenhof (; ), also known as the Garden of Europe, is one of the world's largest flower gardens, situated in the municipality of Lisse, in the Netherlands. According to the official website, Keukenhof Park covers an area of and approximately 7 ...

, former estate and scene of a yearly flower show in the Netherlands * Huis te Vogelenzang (reachable via a rather long canal spur that continued straight when the canal approached

) * The

Hartekamp Hartekamp, or Hartecamp, is the name of a villa in Heemstede, North Holland, the Netherlands, on the Bennebroek border. It was once the Buitenplaats of George Clifford, who employed Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 Jan ...

, home to George Clifford and famous for its ''

Hortus Cliffortianus The ''Hortus Cliffortianus'' is a work of early botanical literature published in 1737. The work was a collaboration between Carl Linnaeus and the illustrator Georg Dionysius Ehret, financed by George Clifford in 1735–1736. Clifford was a we ...

'' published by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

Huis te Manpad The Huis te Manpad is an historical villa and former summer home of Jacob van Lennep in Heemstede, the Netherlands; bordered by the Leidsevaart canal, the Manpadslaan, and the Herenweg. It neighbors the estate of Hartekamp, famed for the gardens ...

, at the corner of the Manpadslaan and located at the toll bridge to Heemstede * Leyduin, across from the Manpad * Meer en Berg, at the end of the Manpad on the East side (now part of

Groenendaal Park Groenendaal park lies at the center of Heemstede, Netherlands. The park includes the grounds of old Heemstede country estates Bosbeek, and Meer en Berg. Along its western borders are the old Heemstede country estates Hartekamp, Huis te Manpa ...

) *

Iepenrode Iepenrode, or Ipenrode, is the name of a villa in Heemstede, the Netherlands, between the Leidsevaart and Herenweg. It is located north of Huis te Manpad and south of Berkenrode. It was once the summer home of various mayors (''burgemeesters'') of ...

, across from Groenendaal (now part of Groenendaal park) *

Berkenrode Berkenrode, or Berckenroode is a former 'Heerlijkheid' in the Dutch province of North Holland, situated on the southwest side of Haarlem on the leidsevaart, north of Iepenrode and west of Heemstede. The original castle Berkenrode in the center o ...

, across from the Haarlem toll bridge (today the location of

Heemstede-Aerdenhout railway station Heemstede-Aerdenhout () is a railway station in Heemstede and Aerdenhout, Netherlands. The station opened on 1 October 1891 and is located on the site of the old Toll house for the Leidsevaart The Leidsevaart (also known as Leidse trekvaart, ...

) *

Alverna La Verna () is a locality on Mount Penna (), an isolated mountain of situated in the centre of the Tuscan Apennines, rising above the valley of the Casentino, central Italy. The place is known especially for its association with Saint Francis o ...

, a cloister across from Berkenrode

References

{{reflist Canals in the Netherlands Canals in North Holland Canals in South Holland Geography of Haarlem History of Haarlem History of Leiden Leiden Heemstede Hillegom Canals opened in the 17th century Buildings and structures completed in 1657 Transport infrastructure completed in the 1650s 1657 establishments in the Dutch Republic