Leiderdorp () is a town and municipality in the western

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, in the province of

South Holland South Holland ( nl, Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.7 million as of October 2021 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely ...

near the city of

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration w ...

. 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

, although the Oude Rijn (Old Rhine) river and the Zijl river separate the two. The

HSL-Zuid The HSL-Zuid ( nl, Hogesnelheidslijn Zuid, en, High-speed Line South), is a 125 kilometre-long (78 miles) Dutch high-speed railway line running between the Amsterdam metropolitan area and the Belgian border, with a branch to Breda, North ...

high-speed rail High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail system that runs significantly faster than traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, lines ...

line between

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

and

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

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 The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) ( c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Ref ...

History

Excavations have shown that as early as during the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly ...

in the area of current day Leiderdorp hunters and fishers roamed around and lived on the dry places around the river.

Roman Period

The Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , source ...

, which passes through Leiderdorp, functioned as the Northern border of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...

. Close to Leiderdorp, the Romans built a fort, Matilo. Around the fall of the Western Roman Empire the Romans retreated from the area.

Middle Ages

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 The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Europe, the Ren ...

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 An arterial road or arterial thoroughfare is a high-capacity urban road that sits below freeways/motorways on the road hierarchy in terms of traffic flow and speed. The primary function of an arterial road is to deliver traffic from collector r ...

of Leiderdorp is called Engelendaal.

Eighty Years' War

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 Francisco Valdez (1522? – 1580?) was a Spanish general during the Eighty Years War. He had command over the besieging forces of the Army of Flanders during the Siege of Leiden commencing in 1573 and led the failed attack on the city of Delft ...

, who ultimately failed to capture the city. In 1620 the

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

Dorpskerk (town church) is constructed. The Dorpskerk celebrated its 400th anniversary in 2020 with a series of concerts and exhibitions.

1700-1940

From 1597 till 1795 Leiden had administrative rights over Leiderdorp, which led to the town becoming even more dependent on the larger city. In 1795 Leiderdorp decreases in size as the neighbouring

expands. A rope factory was constructed in 1806, and in 1862 the first school was established on the Hoofdstraat (main street). A shipyard was constructed in 1877, and in 1915 social housing designed by famous Dutch architect Willem Marinus Dudok was erected.

Second World War

During the Second World war a bunker was constructed in the neighbouring fields, and a pen factory and community centre were destroyed to make way for it. The spires of one of the churches was used as a sniper's nest.

Notable residents

Carice van houten by sachyn mital (cropped)

* The Reverend

Pierre Jacques Smit The Reverend Pierre Jacques Smit (1863–1960), who often signed his works Peter Smit, Peter J. Smit, or P.J. Smit, was a natural history illustrator of the Victorian era in England. Life and work Smit was born in Leiderdorp, Holland, the son ...

(1863 – 1960) an illustrator at the British Natural History Museum * Gerrit de Blanken (1894 – 1961) a Dutch potter *

Armin van Buuren Armin Jozef Jacobus Daniël van Buuren ( , ; born 25 December 1976) is a Dutch DJ and record producer from Leiden, South Holland. Since 2001, he has hosted '' A State of Trance'' (ASOT), a weekly radio show, which is broadcast to nearly 40&n ...

(born 1976) trance music producer and DJ, lived in Leiderdorp * Carice van Houten (born 1976) a Dutch actress and singer * Thomas Erdbrink (born 1976) chief of the Tehran Bureau of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' * Dennis Leeflang (born 1979) a Dutch rock drummer, currently lives in Los Angeles *

Thomas Azier Thomas Azier (born in Leiderdorp, Netherlands, on 14 August 1987) is a Dutch avant-pop singer and musician. Azier studied at the Academie voor Popcultuur in Leeuwarden in 2005. At age 19, he moved to Berlin, Germany, where he performed in vario ...

(born 1987) electro-pop singer and musician * Robert de Hoog (born 1988) a Dutch actor * Daphne Groeneveld (born 1994) a Dutch model IMDb Database
retrieved 01 February 2020

Sport

* Marcel Vonk (born 1974) poker player and academic researcher in

string theory In physics, string theory is a theoretical framework in which the point-like particles of particle physics are replaced by one-dimensional objects called strings. String theory describes how these strings propagate through space and intera ...

* Sylvia Karres (born 1976) a retired field hockey player, team silver medallist at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

* Femke Dekker (born 1979) a Dutch rower, team silver medallist at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

* Taeke Taekema (born 1980) a Dutch field hockey player, team silver medallist at the

* Noeki Klein (born 1983) women's

water polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with th ...

player, team gold medallist at the

* Regina Bruins (born 1986) professional cyclist, lives in Leiderdorp * Ted Jan Bloemen, (born 1986) Dutch-Canadian long track speed skater, gold medallist at the

2018 Winter Olympics , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , wint ...

* Jens Toornstra (born 1989) a Dutch footballer with 300 club caps * Ilse Paulis (born 1993) a Dutch rower, team gold medallist at the

2016 Summer Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

* Jeroen Kampschreur (born 1999) a Dutch paralympic skier * Matthijs de Ligt (born 1999) professional footballer, 23 caps with the Netherlands national team * Noussair Mazraoui (born 1997) professional footballer.

Twin towns

Until 2013 Leiderdorp was twinned with

Gallery

File:Netherlands, Leiderdorp, map of 1867.png, Leiderdorp, map of 1867. File:Netherlands, Zuid-Holland, Leiderdorp, Oude Rijn (2).JPG, Town centre on the Old Rhine. File:Leiderdorp - Hoofdstraat 31.jpg,

Listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

farm in spring File:Netherlands, Zuid-Holland, Leiderdorp, Does (2).JPG, Leiderdorp, Does

References

External links

* {{Authority control Municipalities of South Holland Populated places in South Holland