Brielle
This article is about a city in the Netherland. There is also a Brielle, New Jersey in the United States of America. |
Ltspkr.png |
Brielle, also called
Den Briel, (population: 15,948 in 2004) is a town in the western
Netherlands, in the province of
South Holland. The municipality covers an area of 31.12
km² (of which 3.63 km² water).
Brielle is a very old, fortified town. It received
city rights in
1306. During the
Middle Ages, it had its own harbor and traded with the
Baltic sea region. It even had a factory of its own in
Sweden.
During the
Eighty Years' War between the Netherlands and
Spain, the
Capture of Brielle on
April 1st,
1572 by Protestant rebels, the
Watergeuzen, who killed the
Martyrs of Gorcum there, marked a turning point in the conflict, as many towns in Holland then began to support
William of Orange against the Spanish.
The municipality of Brielle also includes the following towns, villages and townships:
Vierpolders,
Zwartewaal.
In 1967, The
Queenborough (
England) and Brielle (Holland) twinning project was established.
*
Official Website (some pages in English)
*http://www.plattegronden.nl/gemeentebrielle
