The story of Dordrecht

Dordrecht, Ancient Capital of Holland

Coat of arms of the County of Holland	Coat of arms of Dordrecht

The Story of Dordrecht

Dordrecht is common as the oldest city of HOLLAND. Dordrecht, also called DORT, South-Holland province, south-western Netherlands, Dordrecht is situated on the left bank of the Maas (Meuse) River, at the point where a long arm of the North Sea cuts deeply into the Dutch coastline at the divergence of the Merwede, Noord, Oude Maas (Old Meuse), and Dordtse Kil rivers.

Dordrecht is situated on an island (formed in 1421) and is surrounded by 5 rivers (Dordtse Kil, Hollands Diep, Lower Merwede, New Merwede and Olld Meuse) with several buildings older then 600 years and 1,100 buildings older then 300 years, Dordrecht is also called Venice of the North with idyllic old harbors and canals, so a wonderful city worth a visit.

Dordrecht was founded in 1008 by Count Theodore or Diederic (Dirk) III of the house of Frisia/Holland and was given city rights in 1015, it was the residence of the Counts of Holland until 1203 and was chartered in 1220 and fortified in 1271, it was the capital of Holland and the leading town during the 11th to the 17th century and one of the most prosperous medieval ports in the Netherlands, although severely damaged by the St. Elisabeth flood in 1421, Dordrecht stayed the leading city of Holland until it was surpassed as residence by The Hague in the 17th century, as seaport by Rotterdam in the 18th century and as Capital of the Netherlands by Amsterdam in the 19th century.

In 1572 Dordrecht welcomed the "Sea Beggars" (Water geuzen), when the Seven United Provinces of the Northern Netherlands rebelled against Spain, and was the scene of the first assembly of the United Provinces. It was the seat (1618-1619) of the important Synod of Dort, an international assembly of the Reformed Church (for which it had declared in 1572). Many of its medieval houses, courtyards, gates, quays, and canals have survived to contrast with spacious modern housing areas.

The full history of Dordrecht you can read on my Dordrecht History pages

This portrait of Dordrecht was painted by order of the city. The painting gives a good picture of the activity on the waters at Dordrecht, which brought the city prosperity for centuries. In the painting is seen fishing boats, timber rafts and in the middle a war ship, which fires a salute-shot to Dordrecht. The main gates and buildings of Dordrecht, which Riedijk gate, the "Groot hoofd" gate (Oude Hoofd) and the Dordrecht Minster (Grote Kerk), are clearly recognizable. On the ship in the foreground Willaerts depicted himself with a sketchbook.

Dordrecht - In a glance

Dordrecht on the map of the Netherlands

 

The city flag of Dordrecht has three horizontal stripes colored red, white, red. The later flag of the United Netherlands (including Belgium and Luxemburg) in the 16 century, colored orange, white and blue was derived from it, even as the modern flag of the Netherlands colored red, white and blue.

 

The Dordrecht arms consist of two griffons holding a crowned shield of red, divided by a central, vertical bar of silver and was derived from the coat of arms of the Counts of Holland as a sign of the importance of the city and already in use during the early middle ages.

 

On the next pages you can read the whole story of the Ancient Capital of Holland and the historical evens that took place from the early middle ages until the 18th century in Dordrecht.

Index of pages about the history of Dordrecht with a short description

Next : The Dordrecht Minster part 1