Woudrichem

Woudrichem stands at the point where the Maas and Waal ran together before the rivers were re-engineered, and it kept a complete bastioned rampart circuit from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries with a water gate and a small harbour inside. It was a fishing town: the Merwede here was one of the great salmon rivers of Europe and Woudrichem's fleet worked it, along with sturgeon, shad and eel, until the combination of overfishing, the closing of the Haringvliet and pollution finished the runs - the last commercial salmon catch was in the 1930s and the fishery museum records the trade in detail. The old town inside is small, with brick houses along two main streets and the Martinuskerk. Ferries connect to Gorinchem and to Slot Loevestein, so the three sites are usually done together in a loop.

History

Woudrichem grew up in the ninth century around a marketplace on a riverbank, at the meeting of the Maas and Waal. Willem VII van Horne, Lord of Altena, granted it city rights in 1356, the same year the count of Holland moved his river toll here from Sliedrecht, and fishing rights granted in 1362 by Dirk Loef of Horne, builder of Loevestein Castle, helped the town flourish; its present fortifications were built between 1583 and 1588 (Wikipedia, Woudrichem).

What to look for

• A complete rampart circuit - sixteenth and seventeenth-century works with a water gate.
• A salmon fishing town - the trade that ended when the runs collapsed by the 1930s.
• A fishery museum - the boats, gear and the record of what the river held.
• Ferries to two other sites - Gorinchem and Loevestein across the water.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

What to expect

Ferries are seasonal and stop in ice or high water. The town is very small - an hour or two. The museum keeps limited hours. Parking is outside the walls.

Nearby

Slot Loevestein and Gorinchem are across the water by ferry.

Key facts