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15-481: The municipality of Hardinxveld-Giessendam consists of the two population centres Giessendam/Neder-Hardinxveld and Boven-Hardinxveld. Until they were merged in 1957, Giessendam and Hardinxveld were two municipalities, consisting of only a few streets and dykes and only a few thousand inhabitants. The town's economy is for a large part dependent on ship building (e.g. Damen Shipyards Group) and general contracting. Several industry parks are present. The village Hardinxveld

30-636: A 7500-year-old skeleton of a woman, now named "Trijntje". It is the oldest skeleton found in the Netherlands up to this time. Since December 2003, the reconstructed corpse has been added to the collection of the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden (National Museum of Antiquities) in Leiden . In April 1998, a dugout canoe was found. The Hardinxveld-Giessendam railway station , on the Elst–Dordrecht railway ,

45-476: Is navigable for small vessels and is a popular destination for boaters. The banks of the river are important breeding grounds for waterfowl. This river used to be an important trade route in the olden days. This role has subsequently been taken over by the Rhine and Waal rivers. Railroad bridges (with nearest train station on the left and right bank): The river crosses seven motorways : The riverbanks in

60-601: Is one of the oldest settlements of the Alblasserwaard . It is known that in 1105 a priest was present here, and therefore a church as well. Since 1282, Hardinxveld became a grand fiefdom . Through the centuries it suffered from warfare such as the Gelder Wars and the Eighty Years' War The name Giessendam first appeared in 1231 and is most likely derived from the dam on the little peat river Giessen. This dam

75-469: Is situated in the municipality. Alblasserwaard The Alblasserwaard ( Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɑlblɑsərˌʋaːrt] ) is a polder in the province of South Holland , Netherlands . It is mainly known for the windmills of Kinderdijk , located near the village of Kinderdijk in the polder's northwestern part. The first human inhabitants of the Alblasserwaard settled there after

90-466: The last ice age , around 10.000 years ago. The ice had not reached the area itself, but eolian deposits created high points in the wet environment. These high points were places where hunter-gatherers settled, as archaeological investigations in the area have shown. During the Middle Ages , several canals and dikes were created to reclaim the land. The last part was diked in the second half of

105-459: The 14th century, following the permanent flooding of Woude and Donkersloot. However, numerous floods continued to happen throughout the history of the area, as it is bound by rivers and watercourses on all sides. During World War II , the Bombing of Rotterdam also damaged the Alblasserwaard, when both the village center of Alblasserdam and a part of Papendrecht were hit by German bombs. It

120-655: The longest rivers that flow entirely within the Netherlands . The river starts near the village of Doornenburg near the German border. A legend tells us that if pigs no longer forage at the castle of Doornenburg , the river will dry up. The Linge flows to Zoelen, a small village north of Tiel , and from there it meanders west through the Betuwe , to empty in the Boven Merwede near Gorinchem . Until Geldermalsen ,

135-649: The municipality had serious fiscal problems, resulting in direct oversight by the Province for a period of time. Considerable savings had to be made, necessitating significant increases to the relative low taxation in the town. Before the construction of the Betuweroute Highspeed Railway, thorough soil research was performed in 1997. During that research in Hardinxveld-Giessendam, some archeological items were found, including

150-508: The northwest corner of the Alblasserwaard, where the Noord and the Lek join. Most of the Alblasserwaard is rural, but, partially under the influence of the cities of Rotterdam and Dordrecht on the borders of the area, the south and west are urbanised. The largest cities in the Alblasserwaard are Gorinchem , with 35,000 inhabitants, and Papendrecht with slightly over 30,000 people. Both are on

165-470: The river is little more than a small, canalised stream. From Geldermalsen on, however, it takes the appearance of a real river complete with dikes and small floodplains. The Linge provides idyllic spots at old towns like Asperen and Leerdam as the picturesque city walls are still in place on the banks of the river. The river was once a branch of the river Waal , being cut off at Tiel in 1307 or thereabouts (some traces of this can still be seen). The river

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180-480: The southern borders of the Alblasserwaard. The municipalities in the Alblasserwaard are: Extensive parts of the Netherlands are below sea level, and the Alblasserwaard is no different. Most of it has been wrestled from the water through land reclamation , using the windmills on the Kinderdijk. This process led to the area being full of dikes alongside the rivers. Most of the Alblasserwaard is grassland, where in

195-442: The spring and summer one will find herds of cows, sheep and goats. The ground consists of clay. While large parts of the Alblasserwaard are owned by farmers, or are populated, some areas are open to the public for recreation. 51°52′24″N 4°48′3″E  /  51.87333°N 4.80083°E  / 51.87333; 4.80083 Linge The Linge is a river in the Betuwe that is 99.8 km long, which makes it one of

210-734: Was flooded during the North Sea flood of 1953 . The Alblasserwaard is bordered by rivers on all sides. To the north is the Lek , to the west runs the Noord and to the south the river Merwede . On the east side are the Merwede-Kanaal , the Linge and the Oude Zederik , together forming the boundary with Vijfheerenlanden . The village of Kinderdijk, well known for its windmills, is located at

225-503: Was the boundary between Hardinxveld and Giessendam for a long time. The municipality was formed in 1957 by the merger of the former municipalities Hardinxveld and half of Giessendam. The rest of Giessendam's territory went to the new municipality of Giessenburg which in turn was merged with Giessenlanden in 1986. Since the 1960s, the municipality has grown significantly through the development of new neighbourhoods such as De Peulen, de Wielwijk, de Westwijk, and Tienmorgen. In recent years,

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