Hellevoetsluis

Hellevoetsluis was developed from the seventeenth century as the naval base of the Admiralty of the Maze, and it was built for that purpose rather than grown into it: a fortified harbour with bastioned ramparts, an inner and outer basin, storehouses, a rope walk and, from 1806, a dry dock that is one of the oldest in the country and still in place. From this harbour on 1 November 1688 William III sailed with a fleet of several hundred ships to England, landed at Torbay and took the throne in what became the Glorious Revolution - the largest amphibious operation launched from the Netherlands before the twentieth century. The old town inside the ramparts is small and intact, with the admiralty buildings, a lighthouse on the harbour wall and a naval museum. Historic ships lie in the basins and the ramparts are walked.

History

The name means "lock at the foot of the Helle", a small river that has since disappeared and that the Romans called Helinium. Hellevoetsluis became the naval port of the Admiralty of the Maze, able to hold a whole fleet inside its fortified harbour; the admirals Maarten Tromp, Michiel de Ruyter and Piet Heyn were based here, and in 1688 William III's fleet sailed from here to England (Wikipedia, Hellevoetsluis).

What's there

• A purpose-built naval base - bastioned harbour, storehouses and rope walk.
• An 1806 dry dock - among the oldest in the country, still in place.
• Where the 1688 fleet sailed - William III's expedition to England left from here.
• Historic ships in the basins - moored inside the old naval harbour.

When to go

April to October. A day.

Before you go

The museum and dry dock keep seasonal hours and close on Mondays. The town outside the ramparts is modern and unremarkable. Public transport from Rotterdam is slow.

Nearby

Brielle is north on Voorne; the Haringvliet dam is south.

Key facts