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An armor for the capital, so that in times of war the government and the royal family could retreat here. That was the idea when the Dutch Department of War decided at the end of the nineteenth century to set up a strip of fifteen to twenty kilometers around Amsterdam as a line of defense. A damp armor, that is, because the enemy - as soon as he presented himself - was denied access to the capital by flooding (inundating) large areas of land within that strip. Forts (42 in total) were built on the so-called accesses - places that could not be flooded - so that the enemy could not slip past. A strong example of Dutch hydraulic engineering ingenuity, that is what you will see during this Defense Line of Amsterdam route. You will discover seven fortresses and a maze of locks, dams, canals and dikes. And with a little imagination you can see the soldiers of yesteryear keeping watch here. Because little has changed in the landscape since then. For a long time it was forbidden to build within a radius of one kilometer within the Stelling, so only nature has been able to manifest itself exuberantly here. Some forts are open to visitors, such as those in Edam and Spijkerboor. Guided tours are provided here.