Are you an EPFL student looking for a semester project?
Work with us on data science and visualisation projects, and deploy your project as an app on top of GraphSearch.
Concept
Leiderdorp
Summary
Leiderdorp (ˌlɛidərˈdɔr(ə)p) is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland near the city of Leiden. It had a population of in .
The municipality covers an area of of which is water. Leiderdorp has now become a suburb of the city of Leiden, although the Oude Rijn (Old Rhine) river and the Zijl river separate the two. The HSL-Zuid high-speed rail line between Amsterdam and Brussels crosses Leiderdorp in a tunnel.
It is one of the oldest towns in South Holland province and was a base for the Spanish army in the Eighty Years' War.
Excavations have shown that as early as during the Iron Age in the area of current day Leiderdorp hunters and fishers roamed around and lived on the dry places around the river.
The Rhine, which passes through Leiderdorp, functioned as the Northern border of the Roman Empire. Close to Leiderdorp, the Romans built a fort, Matilo. Around the fall of the Western Roman Empire the Romans retreated from the area.
During the middle ages, the first permanent settlement appeared. The Rhine served as a connection between the sea and the hinterland, and there is evidence of trade taking place. During the late Middle Ages three castles were built in Leiderdorp, Huis ter Zijl (1260), Huis ter Does (around 1300) and Huis Berendrecht (around 1420).
In 1396 the Augustinian monastery Engelendael was founded. The monks copied books, cared for the sick and worked the fields. The monastery was abandoned in 1574, but its legacy is still present as the arterial road of Leiderdorp is called Engelendaal.
In 1492 the first bridge crossing the Rhine was built. In 1514 Leiderdorps population had grown to 500. During the Siege of Leiden Leiderdorp was the headquarters of the Spanish General Francisco de Valdez, who ultimately failed to capture the city. In 1620 the Protestant Dorpskerk (town church) is constructed. The Dorpskerk celebrated its 400th anniversary in 2020 with a series of concerts and exhibitions.
Official source
About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.