Barendrecht

Barendrecht is situated between Rotterdam and the river Oude Maas. Being a part of the Riederwaard, Barendrecht used to exist of three manors: Carnisse, West- and East-Barendrecht. The oldest document that speaks of Barendrecht, is a deed dated 18 Feb 1264 AD. In it the foundation of a church in Barendrecht belonging to the Abbey of Saint Paul in Utrecht was descriped. At present Barendrecht has about 45,000 inhabitants. They live in one of two distinctive parts separated by highway A29. East is the older part, while west is Carnisselande, a brand new so-called Vinex location.

The current Dorpskerk (village church), the oldest national monument in Barendrecht, was built in 1512 and is situated in the old village heart opposite the water tower.

Not far away from the Dorpskerk is the bigger Bethelkerk at the crossroad of the Barendrechtseweg and Binnenlandse Baan, leading to the town hall. At this intersection you also find Barendrechts cultural heart, Het Kruispunt theater. Shopping street no.1 is the Middenbaan, behind the theater.

Barendrechts economic center is formed by the vegetables auction buildings and the adjacent industrial area Dierenstein (most inhabitants of Barendrecht work in Rotterdam though). This area is boundered by the Betuwe lijn, a multi billion euro project, which links the ports of Rotterdam with the German Rurgebiet. On June 16th 2007 Queen Beatrix opened this train stretch at the renovated train station of Barendrecht.

In the Vrijenburgerbos at the north edge of Barendrecht one can see a mill, the Pendrechtse molen.

It was built in 1731 in the polder New-Pendrecht, located in Rotterdam territory. In 1993 it had to make way for an industrial park and was sold to Barendrecht for 1 Dutch florin. It was moved bodily 3 kms east to its current location.

Situated on the river Oude Maas Barendrecht offers a unique natural scenery. The Carnisse Grienden are a fresh water tide area. The many pollard-willows stand in water at high tide. Pedestrians keep their feet dry thanks to small dikes and bridges. The grienden can best be viewed from the Oude Maasheuvel, a hill in the flat landscape. On top of the hill is an artefact in the form of a big round concave mirror, called Sky Moon Mirror Environment. From the hill you also have to best views of the skyline of Rotterdam. I've made a blog about the Carnisse Grienden with a few photos.