Nieuwpoort

Nieuwpoort (Holland) is the town I grew up in, and the one my mother and her family hail from.

It's one of Holland's sixteen fortified cities, and the smallest of them all.

It was established in 1270 A.D. when two noblemen decided to take some of their adjoining lands and create a new settlement around a naturally occuring harbour area, which they called Nova Portus. The settlement was given city rights in 1283 A.D.

In 1672 A.D. the city was reshaped on the advice of Willem III in order to become part of the "Oud-Hollandse Waterlinie", a defense system of fortified towns and cities along the major riverways to protect the province of Holland from attacks from the east. In order to restructure the fortifications the city was brought back to half it's length, and 30 buildings had to be destroyed.

Over the centuries the town has survived many things including being plundered and destroyed, invasions and occupations of the country by various countries (France in 1795, Germany in WW2) and still remains.

After WW2 however, the town was quite impoverished and a number of the old buildings of cultural importance disappeared. In the early 1970s the Zuid-Holland provincial government put a stop to that and set plans for conservation in working. Everything within the walls was considered proteced in order to maintain the city's characteristic and historical facade.

Nowadays the town is no longer impoverished, and over the past 15 years or so most of the buildings have been restored to their former glory. There remains a steady trickle of tourists who come to the area to see the small fortified city.

An aerial view of Nieuwpoort
This was taken a number of years ago before the walls and water on the north side were reconstructed.

My parent's house
Situated within the city walls next to the Dutch reformed (Nederlands Hervormd) church. Our house dates back to 1865 according to an old oak beam in my former bedroom.

The Town Hall
This building has been in the town since the late 17th century. All official town duties moved to the main council hall in the neighbouring town of Groot-Ammers a number of years ago. Nowadays the building is used mainly for weddings and it also houses the town's historical society and archaeological museum.

Not that much changes in Nieuwpoort... to illustrate:
The building now known as the "Cafe de Dam" (with the town hall on the left) roughly 50 years ago and now. The building itself dates back to the 17th century.

The Dam (with the town hall on the right) in 1930 and the Dam now.

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