Where tides once alternated in the Middelzee, the canal De Swette now flows. The Swette was dug as a drainage and boundary ditch between the regions of Oostergo and Westergo after the old Middelzee - which split Friesland in two until the year 1300 - had silted up.
Here, you won't find winding former tidal creeklets, but a straight polder ditch, which later proved useful as a canal for cargo and passenger transport between Sneek and Leeuwarden. It is therefore also called the Sneekertrekvaart.
Originally, De Swette extended up to above Leeuwarden, but parts of it have been filled in for the expansion of the city of Leeuwarden. The Zwette is part of the Frisian Eleven Cities Tour.
You can navigate the old canal with a boat or canoe or walk and cycle alongside it. At the hamlet De Dille, you can cross the Swette; this is where the tenth lock in the old Slachtedijk was located. It is the narrowest point of the former Middelzee.
