What Gorinchem is famous for

A SONG FOR GORCUM

Gorcum, with your many waters
and the vast countryside all around,
time and again I feel happy
whenever I approach you from afar.
Nowhere have I ever felt quite so at home, and
nowhere do I fit in better than
your harbours and your locks;
you wrote my blueprint.

^1st stanza of the Gorcum folk song, Thea Sterringa

Water, water and more water

Gorinchem is a real city of water. How could it be otherwise, because the Linge runs straight through the city to flow into the Merwede. And the Merwede Canal connects the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal in Utrecht with the Upper Merwede south of Gorinchem. An important junction of waterways, then. The region is known for its hydraulic engineering; it is not for nothing that international companies such as Damen Shipyards and Van Oord originated in Gorinchem. But what else is Gorinchem known for? We mention a few achievements. And the line with water is never far away,,,

Most beautiful fortified town in the Netherlands

Around 1600, Gorinchem became a fortified town. The medieval city walls were replaced by a rampart with 11 bastions to keep the Spaniards out of the gates. Due to its strategic location - Napoleon called Gorinchem "the key to Holland" - it was an important fortress in the Old and New Dutch Waterline. This fortification wall is still largely intact, so Gorinchem has lost none of its historical appearance. In 2021, Gorinchem was even named the most beautiful fortified town in the Netherlands by the ANWB. As part of the Hollandse Waterlinies, the fortress is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Holy Martyrs of Gorcum

Internationally known are the Martyrs of Gorcum; 19 Catholic clerics who remained trouw their faith. And that is precisely what became fatal to them. When the Protestant Water Beggars took Gorinchem by water in 1572, they refused to give up their faith. They were imprisoned, tortured and, after several days, transported by ship via Dordrecht to Brielle. There they were hanged in a peat barn. They went down in history as the Martyrs of Gorcum and were canonised in 1867. The martyrs are still venerated today, from Belgium to the Philippines and from Italy to Mexico. Every year around their death anniversary on 9 July, there is a national pilgrimage to Den Briel. In Gorinchem, unfortunately, almost no trace remains of the martyrs. Their story is told in the Gorcums Museum and various themed routes.

Hugo de Groot

Do you know the story of the book chest? Hugo de Groot was given a 'life sentence' in the State Prison Loevestein, but escaped within 3 years in a book chest. That chest was taken - without books, but with Hugo - in a boat across the river to Gorinchem and delivered to merchant Adriaan Daetselaar. When the soldiers had left, he dressed as a bricklayer and went back out through a gate. Via the ferry across the Merwede river, he fled to Antwerp. The Hugo de Groot gate can still be seen on the Grote Markt in Gorinchem. His cell in Slot Loevestein is also still there and you can visit it daily. And what could be more fun than travelling the same way as Hugo, over water with the ferry from Gorinchem to Loevestein.

Bliekenstad

Gorcumers are also called bliks. During carnival, Gorinchem is 'Bliekenstad'. Here's the thing: bliek is the nickname of the freshwater fish kolblei or blei. And with so much water around, a lot of fish were eaten. Like salmon (which used to swim in the river) and bliks. They gave the Gorcumers their nickname. Two statues in the city still recall fishing; Ouwe Sannie, the lone fisherman on the islet in the Paardenwater, and the salmon fisherman next to the Dalempoort. As a matter of fact, the city is rich in sculptures in public spaces. They are bundled in a Sculpture Route that can be bought at the VVV tourist office.

Salt balls

The 'Echte Gorcumsche Zoute Bollen' of J.J. de Kroes are the local speciality of Gorinchem. Baker Jacob baked the very first savoury biscuits in his bakery at Gasthuisstraat 36. He had a mural painted on the side wall as an advertisement, which is still there. The biscuits are no longer baked there today, but a tin or box of salty buns is still on sale at the VVV and in supermarkets.

Ida Gerhardt

You may know Gorinchem from Ida Gerhardt, Gorcum's greatest poet. She was a beloved poet and was also inspired by her hometown. No fewer than five of her poems are included in the Poëzieroute. Here too, water is often a source of inspiration: The Japanese Fisherman, The Ship, Inalienable, Text on a River Beacon, In Memoriam Patris.