Recently I crossed the pond for a few days of work in Dordrecht, Holland. I had very little time, and it's not a very big city or tourist destination, but I did manage to find out a few interesting things about it and take a some nice pictures.
Dordrecht is the oldest city in Holland, older than the current capital and better-known Amsterdam. Its was founded around 1120 and it still retains a medieval look and flavor. Like most of Holland and its cities, its full of canals and water, and highly walkable. And even though it has a population of only 119,000, nearly 20% of it is foreign-born -- it's a really multicultural place.
There are numerous medieval monuments in town but the most notable of them is Grote Kerk, or Church of Our Lady, that was built between 1284 and 1470. It's a very impressive structure, and even though it was an old Catholic, re-Reformation church, today it is very much a Protestant cathedral.
Finally, I saw this sign about a woman I never heard of before named Lenie Dicke who was an active member of the Resistance in Dordrecht during World War II. At one point she was captured and, in a moment of brilliance and bravery, actually ate a book listing the names of other Resistance members, sparing their lives. She's a Dordrecht hero and actually lived until the year 2000.
Again, it's a small city, not big and glamorous like Amsterdam, but worth seeing for its charm and history.
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