2014_06_23 - Dordrecht

Dordrecht Road and Rail Bridges

    An early rise today, and I was in the shower block by 07:30. Two jovial, friendly ladies were in the gents scrubbing and cleaning the area within an inch of its life. Even the drain covers were up. "Don't go in that shower, it's dirty," said one of the ladies. The two were happy in their work, and they were good at it.
    After fixing the bow navigational lights, I nipped off smartly to the bakers and supermarket. The bakers was no problem: some tasty dark bread that Meryl adored, a loaf of white, and some currant rolls. The supermarket, however, did not open until 08:30. The woman who waited patiently alongside me protested that she dropped her children off to school at 08:15, and couldn't get her shopping done until 08:30. I guess she was anxious to get back home to have it all scrubbed and polished by noon.
    Once we had cleared breakfast away and were ready to depart, Rex informed me that I would be taking the boat out of the marina. Gulp! I managed to ease us out without damage to man or property, and soon we were heading up the Hollands Diep. Since the weekend was over, the number of leisure craft on the water had dropped dramatically, but the large barges still ploughed on.

Brocante (Flea Market)

The large refinery, Shell Moerdijk, came and went on our starboard. A short while later we turned up left into South Holland and the Dordtsche Kil, a narrower waterway, but still busy with barges. This stretch of water contained pull-in places for barges, some of which were occupied by ships rather than barges. A couple of days earlier we had seen a large car transporter barge carrying three tiers of cars, today we saw a barge carrying around 180 containers.
The southern approach to Dordrecht was heavily industrialised. The Dordtsche Kil merged into the Oude Maas, and to reach the city marinas, we would need to pass under a road bridge and an adjacent rail bridge. These bridges only opened at two hourly intervals, so we needed to kill time for an hour. Luckily, a small pontoon existed on the other side of Duivelseiland (Devil's Island), an island just before the two bridges, reached by performing a right-hand switchback. Rex, Alan and I had used this pontoon three years earlier on our way to St Petersburg. We joined a Dutch boat on the pontoon, owned by a couple who were returning home to Kinderlijk. I quizzed the chap about sailing in the Biesbosch, and he endorsed everybody else's opinions, "The channels are very narrow and shallow and it is highly likely that you would run aground. You would require very detailed charts and a special licence. It is not advisable, particularly if your keeled boat has a fair draft."

Public Library

Shortly after 1pm we headed off towards the pair of bridges, crossing the main A16 road which ran many metres below our keel. A large barge which had arrived up the Oude Maas the same time as us, had tied up to the bank, and as we passed alongside, it started to move off from the bank, employing an extremely powerful bow thruster in the process. The captain rapidly spun the barge around by 180 degrees, and headed south. Hmm..... how odd, did he come just to watch the bridge opening? Then, at precisely twelve minutes past the hour the rail bridge was raised vertically by 50m, and then the bascule road bridge was opened, and we dashed through. In the distance a yacht was madly racing down to the bridge to try and get through at this opening. The bridge operator was in a benign mood and waited.

Johan and Cornelis De Witt

A short distance beyond the bridges we turned off right into the entrance of the Nieuw Haven. Progress was halted by the Engelenburgerbrug, so we tied up to some posts outside and tried to raise the bridge operator over the VHF, with no success. Damn and blast, what do we do now? Fortunately the harbour master overheard our call, and he called the bridge operator, and lo and behold, the bridge magically opened for us. We later learned that the operator was miles away and could not receive our 1 watt transmissions; use the 25 watt mode next time! In no time at all we were moored up in a box, and the friendly harbour master had explained all to us - perfect. Despite the marina being right inside the historic city and having plentiful facilities, it was comparatively cheap compared to some of the others we had visited. Sadly, like many of the marinas, trying to get WIFI to connect required an act of God.
Once well ensconced in this tidal marina (yes, this far inland and it was tidal), we headed off into town to locate the VVV (Tourist Information Centre), admiring the giraffe that was shading under some trees by the marina. One of the streets we wandered down was an antique collector's paradise, full of brocantes. A while back, Yvonne, the Dutch wife of the salting's marine engineer, had explained to Rex and Meryl that the Dutch used to call flea-markets by their English name "flea-markets". They then decided the French equivalent "brocante" sounded better, and took it on board. Apparently the Dutch are very willing to adopt words from other languages. Rex and Meryl were in raptures as they strolled past these junk shops, gazing through the windows. I was more interested in finding art shops to gaze into.

Stadhuis

At the end of the street, Rex and I wandered up to marvel at the public library building in the Groenmarkt. This was split between two adjacent buildings, the modern one all glass and steel, the other a beautiful medieval building with golden sheep adornments. There is a hidden story behind the various sheep adornments in this city. During carnival time, Dordrecht is nicknamed the Ooi- en Ramsgat (Ewe's and Ram's hole), and its inhabitants are the Schapenkoppen (Sheepheads). The origin of those names comes from an old folk story about two men trying to escape the local tax on imported livestock. It is said that sometime in the 17th century, two men dressed up a sheep they had bought outside the city, attempting to disguise it as a man. When the threesome passed through the city gate, the sheep bleated and was uncovered. That is why nowadays, tourists can buy sheep-related souvenirs in Dordrecht.

Painting Hanging by Lombardbrug Waterway

Behind us, on the approach to Visbrug bridge, Johan and Cornelis De Witt were immortalised in bronze. They were born in the Grotekerksbuurt (area around the Grote Kerk). Cornelius de Witt (1623-1672) held various positions in Holland and distinguished himself when he accompanied Admiral Michael de Ruyter in great naval battles against the united English and French fleets. His brother Johan de Witt (1625-1672) was an adherent of the republican states-right party which opposed the princes of the house of Orange, who represented the federal principle and who had the support of the masses of the people. The great diplomatic skill of Johan de Witt led in 1668 to the Triple Alliance between the Dutch Republic, England and Sweden, which halted the French invasion of Spanish Netherlands. However, in 1672, after persuading Charles II of England to abandon the Dutch, Louis XIV of France suddenly declared war and invaded the United Provinces. When the French armies overran Holland, the Dutch people turned to William III of Orange for leadership. The de Witt brothers, however, opposed William III, leading to violent demonstrations against them. Cornelius was arrested on charges of conspiring against the prince, was tortured and banished. When his brother Johan came to visit him in the Gavengenpoort at The Hague, a vast crowd burst in, seized the two brothers and tore them to pieces. Their mangled remains were hung by their feet from a lamp-post. Never bruise your oranges then.

Arij Scheffer Supporting the Dutch

    Realising Meryl had turned off into the opposite direction to us, we back-tracked and found her by the City Hall. The neoclassical facade that the Stadhuis (City Hall) received in the 19th century hides the medieval secret behind. This building, with its cellars with groined vaults, and its roof with the original wooden construction, was built in the 14th century as the Flemish commodity exchange. It became the home of the city council in 1544.
    The VVV was in a canal side setting on the Spuiboulevard, and located in an impressive, modern building. It contained all the information on the city and environs that we could wish for. The helpful staff explained how we could get out to the Biesbosch, and Rex managed to get charts for the Beneden Merwede waterway up to Gorinchem, a possibility for later in the week.
    A leisurely meander through the busy city took us past a plethora of shops common to most cities. A break for a refreshing drink in Scheffersplein was most welcome, and provided yet another opportunity for Rex to excel in his linguistic expertise. The square was full of tables, an "eating" square, and on the periphery, all the bars and restaurants were bedecked with orange bunting for the World Cup. Large video screens abounded. The Netherlands were playing at 6pm, and the excitement and anticipation were tangible. Even the statue of Scheffer, which dominated the centre of the square, had been given an orange makeover.
    Arij Scheffer (1795-1858) was born in Dordrecht and became a famous romantic painter in Paris. Another Dordrecht artist was Aelbert Cuyp (1620-1691). This world famous landscape artist lived and worked for his entire life in Dordrecht. Besides these well-known artists, probably Dordrecht's greatest claim to fame is the fact that it is the oldest city in the Netherlands, and is located on an island.
    Almost a thousand years ago, the first inhabitants of Dordrecht came to live in the water-rich area on the banks of the Thuredrith river. The favourable location at an intersection of trade routes, mainly over water, accelerated the development of the city. In 1220, the count of Holland bestowed city rights on a residential area for the first time. This was Dordrecht, the first city of the Netherlands.
    Dordrecht received more privileges. The most important was the "stapelrecht" (staple rights). All traders that transported goods over the water were obliged to store and trade them in Dordrecht. The city grew, first along the raised embankments of the river Thuredrith, which is now the Voorstraatshaven. Later, warehouses and merchant's houses were built on the sandbanks outside of the city. Here, the Nieuwe Haven and the Wolwevershaven were created. The city became prosperous and influential.

Straatman Dock on Wolwevershaven

Grain, wood, sugar and wine were important commodities. The winding Wijnstraat, the Wijnhaven and the wine warehouses were reminders of the flourishing wine trade. Wine sellers, timber merchants and owners of breweries and sugar refineries lived in prominent houses along the Wijnstraat and Groenmarkt. Along the Voorstraatshaven, there were jetties where ships moored to unload their cargoes.
The water brought not only prosperity, it also regularly caused problems: floods and burst dykes. In 1421, disaster struck. The St. Elisabeth flood caused extensive flooding around Dordrecht. Some of this area was later reclaimed and enclosed by dykes, a large area developed into the Biesbosch. The forces of nature changed the landscape forever, but the city was spared. Trade steadily recovered and attracted merchants and craftsmen from Germany, Flanders and England.

Just One of Many Such Plaques

Dordrecht also played an important role in the area of politics. In 1572, twelve cities of the Netherlands met in secret in Dordrecht to join forces to resist Spanish rule. They supported William of Orange by funding an army and acknowledged him as their only stadtholder. The First Assembly of the Free States, held in Het Hof, marked the beginning of an independent Dutch state. Dordrecht is the city where the Netherlands was born.
The Synod of Dordrecht was held in 1618/9 to put an end to the religious disputes within the protestant church. The results of this important national synod were the Dordrecht principles set forth the Reformed doctrine on the following points: total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement (arguing that Christ's atoning work was intended only for the elect and not for the rest of the world), irresistible (or irrevocable) grace, and the perseverance of the saints. In addition an order was issued to make the first Dutch translation of the bible. This became the Statenbijbel (State Bible) of 1637. The Synod and the authorised translation of the bible have greatly influenced the ecclesiastical and cultural history of the Netherlands and the Dutch language.

Groothoofdspoort

Dordrecht Maiden Sitting in the "Garden of Holland"

The staple rights were rescinded, Rotterdam and Amsterdam grew as trading cities. Dordrecht had to abandon its leading position. In the 19th century, many ships were still built in the yards along the river. By then, the majority of the city wall had been demolished. The city gates disappeared, bridges appeared made of cast iron and Itz, the city architect, provided the city with buildings in the neoclassical style. The desire to innovate also resulted in demolition in the 60s. Even so, the city always retained its own character. As I sipped my beer in Scheffersplein, I reaffirmed in my mind that this city would serve as an ideal base for exploring the surrounding area. Rex and Meryl were also of the same opinion.

Half-time Celebrations

In the evening we walked up by the Nieuwe Haven and Wolwevershaven, stopping to ponder on past times at the Straatman Dock, before arriving at the Groothoofd, which offered a commanding view of the three waterways that met here. The rivers Oude Maas, Beneden Merwede and Noorde converged at this point in Dordrecht, at Europe's busiest river confluence. In the past, the waterfront here was the most important mooring for ships. Dominating this front was the Groothoofdspoort gate, providing access to the inner city. This main city gate together with the Grote Kerk defined the skyline of the city from the water.
Although initial work began on designing the building in 14th century, the main part of the structure was not completed until the early 15th century. The gothic details which are visible were common architectural features of the time; however this made them no less stunning, especially when you consider that few buildings from this period have survived. The tower was added later in 1618. The relief on the front of the structure showed the Dordrecht maiden sitting in the "Garden of Holland". In her left hand she held a palm branch and in her right she held the city shield of Dordrecht. Underneath the relief, there was an inscription in Latin, which read "Unity and Peace are the best defence for a city. May my God protect me". Around the maiden, the city shields of 15 other Dutch cities were arranged. Starting in the top right hand corner (the monk), you can see the shields of: Monnickendam, Enkhuizen, Asperen, Heusden, Schiedam, Vlaardingen, Geertruidenberg, Schoonhoven, Hoorn, Weesp, Leerdam, Naarden, Muiden, Medemblik and Grootebroek. These were 16 of the cities which were integral to the rebellion during the Eighty Years War, which led to the eventual secession of the Dutch republic. On the opposite side of the tower there was another relief, which showed the Dordrecht crest, held by two griffins.

Netherlands/Belgium Trip - Dordrecht 23rd June: