Aspire Design Studio Breukelen

Gouda is a city and municipality in the west of the Netherlands, between Rotterdam and Utrecht and is located in the province of South Holland.

The city is famous for its its 15th-century city hall and has an array of historic churches and buildings.
In the Middle Ages the Van der Goude family founded a settlement at the location of the current city and built a fortified castle alongside the banks of the Gouwe River, from which the family and the city took their names.

Around the year 1100 the area of present-day Gouda was a swamp and covered with a peat forest and was crossed by small creek such as the Gouwe.

In the 13th century, the Gouwe was connected to the Oude Rijn (Old Rhine) by means of a canal and its mouth at the Hollandse IJssel was developed into a harbour. Castle Gouda was built to protect this harbour. Great fires in 1361 and 1438 destroyed the city.

In 1551 marks the founding of the oldest still-functioning inn, De Zalm, located on Markt 34, near the historic Waag building.
Starting in 1830, demolition of the city walls began. The last city gate was torn down in 1854.

From 1940 on, back-filling of the city moats and city-canals, the grachten and so began the Nieuwehaven, Raam, Naaierstraat, and Achter de Vismarkt. However, because of protests from city dwellers and revised policies of city planners Gouda did not continue with the back-filling of the moats and city-canals now considered historically valuable.

The city originated as a d**e village on the south side opposite an artificial hill at the confluence of the Old and New Rhine . The oldest mention of it is around 860. The village at that time was called 'Leithon'.

The Bishop of Utrecht resided in the castle situated on the hill. The castle came into the hands of the Count of Holland around 1100. The favorably located settlement was granted itscity rights in 1266. With its flourishing cloth industry developed into one of the largest cities of the County of Holland . In 1389, when the population had grown to approximately 4,000, the city had to be expanded with the district between Rapenburg (formerly the southern edge of the city) and the Witte Singel.

During the Golden Age Leiden was the largest city in the Netherlands after Amsterdam. Population growth made the construction of new canals and moats necessary. The current centre of Leiden, recognizable by its moat pattern, was completed in 1659.
During the Second World War, Leiden was heavily hit by Allied bombardments. The area around the station and the Marewijk (now the area around the Schuttersveld and the Schipholweg) was almost completely razed to the ground. The historic centre was spared.

Present-day Leiden primarily profiles itself as a center of scientific knowledge and new technology . In addition, tourism plays an increasingly important role in this historic fortified city .