Sliedrecht

Sliedrecht is a town of 25,000 people (2019) along the Binnen-Merwede river in Zuid-Holland. Sliedrecht is well-known as the home of many large dredging companies.

Understand

Sliedrecht consisted of two towns before 1421, those being Sydrecht to the south of the Merwede, where the modern-day Biesbosch is, and Over-Slydrecht. Sydrecht was destroyed during the Saint Elizabeth's flood of that year, which led Over-Slydrecht (lit. Upper Slydrecht) to change its name to simply Slydrecht, which over time became Sliedrecht.

Sliedrecht was an average town in the Dutch river delta during the 15th and 16th centuries, with many citizens living from what they caught at sea, and a few others from what they farmed. Dredging became Sliedrecht's claim to fame during the Industrial Revolution, but the citizens, fighting against the water for their entire lives, were crafty hydraulic engineers by trade. As soon as the thirteenth century there were coordinated constructions of irrigation canals, dikes and other ways of keeping the water tame. The Sliedrecht farmers quickly found that there was more money to be made in creating dikes than by keeping livestock, and thus changed their trade. Harbours in Dordrecht were dug in the 15th century and were largely built by Sliedrechters.

Historically speaking, Sliedrecht is quite uneventful, and the town is nowadays more of a suburb of Dordrecht and Rotterdam. The first Dutch IKEA was opened here in 1978, but this shop was closed in 2006 because the building was too small and other, considerably larger establishments were not far from the city.

Get in

By car

From Rotterdam, follow the A15 or A16 to Dordrecht. After these two meet, stay on the A15 rather than the A16 heading for Papendrecht and Gorinchem. Here, use exit 24 (Sliedrecht-West), turning left at the end of the off ramp. Turn right after passing underneath the railway tracks, turning onto the Parallelweg. Follow this road and turn left onto the Deltalaan once the road ends. You'll find yourself in the centre of town once you find yourself at the first roundabout on your path. From here, turn left to go to the station, right to go to the Kerkbuurt, and go straight to find some of Sliedrecht's suburbs.

By public transit

Sliedrecht has two train stations to its name: 🌍 Sliedrecht  ARR  and 🌍 Sliedrecht Baanhoek  ARR , of which the first is closest to the city centre, while the latter is a stop for the Baanhoek suburb of Sliedrecht. Trains connect from Dordrecht to Geldermalsen. Alternatively, you can take the watertaxi from Dordrecht to Sliedrecht as well using line  23  from Dordrecht Merwekade to 🌍 Sliedrecht Middeldiep.

See

  • 🌍 Nationaal Baggermuseum (National Dredging Museum), Molendijk 204, ☏ +31 184 414 166. Though its name in Dutch has two meanings, one considerably more neutral than the other, the quality of the museum is for you to judge. The museum's collection consists of historical and modern models of dredging fleets, as well as an overview of the history of the trade and a collection of objects that were recovered during dredging works. Adults €6, children (age 4-14) €3. (updated Aug 2018)
  • 🌍 Sliedrechts Museum, Kerkbuurt 99, ☏ +31 184 413 404, . Wednesday and Saturday from 14:00 to 17:00. The Sliedrechts Museum documents the history of the town, showing how its citizens used to live and how the town came to be. The museum is located in two beautiful historical buildings in the city centre. Adults €2, children €1. (updated Aug 2018)
  • Visit the Biesbosch National Park, which can be reached by taking a ferry from either Boven-Hardinxveld and Werkendam in the east or more directly via Kop van het Land.

Eat

Drink

Sleep

Go next
Routes through Sliedrecht
Hoek van Holland ← Rotterdam ←  W  E  → Tiel → Nijmegen
Dordrecht ←  W  E  → Gorinchem → (Geldermalsen)


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