Gouda (Niederlande) 6.44

Gouda is a municipality and city in the province of South Holland, the Netherlands. The city is famous for its Gouda cheese, stroopwafels, many grachten, smoking pipes, and its 15th-century city hall. Gouda's array of historic churches and other buildings makes it a very popular day trip destination.In the Middle Ages, a settlement was founded at the location of the current city by the Van der Goude family, who built a fortified castle alongside the banks of the Gouwe River, from which the family and the city took its name. The area, originally marshland, developed over the course of two centuries. By 1225, a canal was linked to the Gouwe and its estuary was transformed into a harbour. City rights were granted in 1272.HistoryAround the year 1100, the area where Gouda now is located was swampy and covered with a peat forest, crossed by small creeks such as the Gouwe. Along the shores of this stream near the current market and city hall, peat harvesting began in the 11th and 12th centuries. In 1139, the name Gouda is first mentioned in a statement from the Bishop of Utrecht.