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Hellevoetsluis () is a town and former municipality in the west of Netherlands. It is located in Voorne-Putten, South Holland. The former municipality covered an area of of which was water and it included the population centres of Nieuw-Helvoet, Nieuwenhoorn, and Oude en Nieuwe Struiten, all former municipalities.
Hellevoetsluis is located on the Haringvliet with the sea, beach, and dunes close by, on the extreme southern edge of the Rijnmond and Europoort areas, close to the broad Zeeland landscape. The name translates as "lock at the foot of the Helle". The Helle was a small local river that disappeared over time.
On 1 January 2023, the municipality of Hellevoetsluis merged with Brielle and Westvoorne into the new municipality of Voorne aan Zee.
The history of Hellevoetsluis has always been connected with water. During the time of the Eighty Year's War and the forming of the Dutch Republic Hellevoetsluis was the naval port of the Admiralty of de Maze (Rotterdam) and could accommodate an entire fleet within a special land-enclosed fortification with harbour and dockyard facilities, accessible through a canal. Thanks to its strategic situation the town grew from the beginning of the 17th century to be the homeport for the Dutch war fleet. In later years the port was fortified more and more and Hellevoetsluis, therefore, became a unique combination of a fortified town and a naval port. The Admiral Maarten Tromp, Michiel de Ruyter, and Piet Heyn had their home base here and in 1688 during the Glorious Revolution William III of Orange's invasion fleet departed from the port.
In the early 1700s the English painter John Thornhill lamented on how townspeople in ports took advantage of travellers who often had to wait for the weather to calm before a ship could sail. Hellevoetsluis was one of the ports mentioned in his journal in 1711:
Gravesend, Dover, Deal and Harwich
The devil gave his daughter in marriage
And further to fulfil his will
He threw in Helvoetsluice and Brill''
The Voorne Canal Kanaal door Voorne was built in 1830 from Hellevoetsluis to Nieuwesluis (near Heenvliet) and made Hellevoetsluis an outport of Rotterdam. It was a period when the town grew and flourished; the shipping industry provided prosperity. Its neighbourhood may have been named after a vlotbrug constructed over the canal.
In the first half of the 20th century, however, Hellevoetsluis went into decline. Ocean-going ships became too large to use the canal and the Nieuwe Waterweg was dug, making the Canal through Voorne redundant. The naval base was relocated to Den Helder in the 1930s, the Government shipyard was closed, and during World War II the Germans destroyed three-quarters of all buildings in 1944. They also used the canal as a base for Biber submarines.
After World War II Hellevoetsluis grew considerably. As a New Town, the population doubled in the 1970s. Today 43,000 inhabitants live in modern houses with abundant green areas nearby. It is home to many commuters working in Europoort or Rotterdam.
During the flood of 1953 Hellevoetsluis was inundated and after this flood, the Netherlands implemented the "Deltawerken", a vast plan that put in place sea-defenses such as dams to protect vulnerable Islands in the Meuse-Rhine river delta.
The town is home to several buildings from the 16th-19th Centuries that are listed monuments. Among these are the "Admiraliteitsgebouw" (currently used as town hall), the "de Hoop" windmill, Fort/Bastion Haerlem, "Droogdok Jan Blanken": a historic shipbuilding site and, the Water Tower Hellevoetsluis, designed by architect N. Biezeveld and built in 1896.
Every two years, the Dutch Classic Yacht Regatta is held in the harbour. A large number of classic, sharp yacht can be seen.
The National Firefighting Museum, located in what used to be the Kuiperij and Grootmagazijn on Industriehaven, contains a rich collection ranging from the most primitive fire fighting equipment from centuries ago to the highly sophisticated equipment of today. Water buckets, fire hoses, water barrels, uniforms, hand- and steam engines, and many other devices that mark a point in the history of fire fighting are represented.
In the Oudheidskamer, also situated on the Industriehaven, there is a collection of items from the daily life of the past two centuries. It includes items that relate to the past of Hellevoetsluis as a naval port as well as agriculture-related articles.
Hellevoetsluis Dry Dock dates from 1806. It marks a revolutionary development in the history of shipbuilding and ship repair. The dry dock is still operational and has become a major historical and industrial/archaeological monument.
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