The Groothoofdspoort is a former city gate in

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after R ...

that is located at the point where three rivers meet; the

Merwede The Merwede () etymology uncertain, possibly derived from the ancient Dutch ''Merwe'' or ''Merowe'', a word meaning "wide water") is the name of several connected stretches of river in the Netherlands, between the cities of Woudrichem, Dordrecht ...

, the

Oude Maas The Oude Maas (; en, Old Meuse) is a distributary of the river Rhine, and a former distributary of the river Maas, in the Dutch province of South Holland. It begins at the city of Dordrecht where the Beneden Merwede river splits into the Noo ...

, and the Noord.

History

The building was designed in the 14th century and was originally built with gothic details. The facades were built in 1618 and the tower was added in 1692. The relief above the doorway facing the river was designed by Gillis Huppe in 1618 and shows the Dordrecht maiden sitting in the "Garden of Holland", holding a palm branch in her left hand and the city shield in her right hand, based on an earlier design by the Dordrecht painter Gerrit Gerritsz Cuyp. She is surrounded by 16 city shields of cities who rebelled during the eighty years war. From top right, these city shields are the cities of Monnickendam (monk),

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(3 fish), Asperen,

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, and Grootebroek. Under the shields, a Latin inscription states "Unity and peace are the best defence for a city; May my God Jehovah protect me". On the other side of the tower is a relief with the shield of Dordrecht held by two griffins. The roof was replaced by a tower in 1692 and contains a bell by H.Meurs. The current occupant "Bellevue Groothoofd hotel culinair", a hotel restaurant in the "Groothoofd" block of buildings including the gate, and where Dordrecht residents can arrange to be wed in the old gate building, claims that the "Hotel Belle Vue" building next to the gate was first mentioned in city documents in 1817.website
of "Bellevue Groothoofd hotel culinair"

References

{{reflist Rijksmonuments in Dordrecht Buildings and structures completed in 1640 1640 establishments in the Dutch Republic