The city was formerly cut through with many river canals. Today there is a small stretch of the Melaan River, an old canal now called Groen Waterke, or Green Water. Named for its duckweed, this green water is the only visible vestige of a large canal system. It is framed by the 16th-century refuge house (retreat town house) for the distant Sint-Truiden's Abbey, a Benedictine convent. This lies immediately to the east of the Archbishop's palace. Today, the building houses administrative offices of the archdiocese.