Schiedam 🇳🇱 Holland to Belgium 🇧🇪 #164

Driving from the Netherlands to Belgium. Starting in Schiedam. Schiedam is a large town and municipality in the west of the Netherlands. It is located in the Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area, west of the city Rotterdam, east of the town Vlaardingen and south of the city Delft. In the south, Schiedam is also connected to the village of Pernis via the Benelux tunnel. The town is known for its historical center with canals, and for having the tallest windmills in the world. Schiedam is also well known for the distilleries and malthouses and production of jenever, such as the internationally renowned Ketel One; in French and English, the word schiedam (usually without a capital s-) refers to the town's jenever. This was the town's main industry during the early Industrial Revolution in the 18th and 19th century, a period to which it owed its former nickname "Zwart Nazareth" ("Black Nazareth"). The town is also known for Saint Lidwina, one of the most famous Dutch saints, whose relics are located in the town’s basilica. History Schiedam was founded around the year 1230. The river Schie was dammed by the Lord of Wassenaer and the Amtlord Dirk Bokel of the Amt Mathenesse, this to protect the existing polderland against the seawater from the North Sea.[citation needed] In 1247, Lady Adelaide (Aleida) of Holland married John I, Count of Hainaut. [citation needed] As dowry she received from him[clarification needed] the eastern part of the dam together with the adjacent polder. The dam attracted many trade activities because goods for and from the hinterland (Delft, and further away Leiden and Haarlem) had to be transhipped. A small town developed swiftly around the dam and its activities. In the year 1275 Schiedam received town privileges from Lady Adelaide, this in her capacity as sister of William II, the reigning Count of Holland and King of the Romans. She ordered the building of Te Riviere Castle near the Schie, which is known today as "Castle Mathenesse" (Dutch: "Huis te Riviere" or "Slot Mathenesse"). Remnants of a donjon, which were once part of the castle, are still visible today in the centre of Schiedam and near the town office.[citation needed] As a young settlement Schiedam soon got competition from surrounding towns and cities: in 1340, Rotterdam and Delft also were allowed to establish a connection between the Schie and the Meuse. From the 15th century onwards the town flourished as a place of pilgrimage due to the devotion afforded to Saint Lidwina, one of the most famous Dutch saints who lived her life in Schiedam. The town subsequently gained significance by fishing for herring. In 1428 a great fire swept through Schiedam, destroying large parts of the then wooden town.[citation needed] In 1575 the world's first known commercial distillery started operations in Schiedam.[5] The 18th century was Schiedam's Golden Age, when the gin industry flourished. The standstill in drink imports from France made the boom in Schiedam's distilleries possible.[citation needed] From dozens of distilleries Schiedam jenever was exported throughout the world. The gin industry gave the town its nickname "Black Nazareth". This industry is now largely gone. Five windmills in the town, called De Noord, Walvisch, Drie Koornbloemen, Nieuwe Palmboom and Vrijheid − are the highest traditional-style windmills in the world because they had to stick out above the high warehouses, and many storehouses are relics of this past. In one of the former factories at the Lange Haven the National Jenever Museum operates.[citation needed] On 10 August 1856, the first major train accident in the Netherlands happened near Schiedam Centrum railway station, causing 3 deaths. On 4 May 1976 the 1976 Schiedam train accident also took place near the station, which caused 24 deaths.[6] At the end of the 19th and throughout the 20th century, the shipbuilding industry boomed in Schiedam, with large companies like Wilton-Fijenoord and others. In 1941, the ancient municipalities Kethel en Spaland were merged with Schiedam, which made large expansions of the town possible with residential areas in the north. [citation needed] At the end of the 20th century, the shipbuilding industry largely disappeared and today, Schiedam is mainly a commuter-area in the Rotterdam metropolitan area. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schiedam Filmed in September 2024. My Equipment - Camera - https://amzn.to/3PlgZfB Camera 2 - https://amzn.to/3Ve90os Memory Card - https://amzn.to/43eHMA8 Suction Mount - https://amzn.to/3PhHbaU Multi Charger - https://amzn.to/3Vz3T2z Power Bank - https://amzn.to/3PlBrNo Laptop - https://amzn.to/3wZTySI External Hard Drive - https://amzn.to/43iBcbL Portable Power Station - https://amzn.to/3IBe92k Please Subscribe - https://bit.ly/3GTLtQv