Hollands Diep 3.01

Hollands Diep is a wide river in the Netherlands and an estuary of the Rhine and Meuse river. Through the Scheldt-Rhine Canal it connects to the Scheldt river and Antwerp.The Bergse Maas river and the Nieuwe Merwede river join near Lage Zwaluwe to form the Hollands Diep. The Dordtsche Kil connects to it near Moerdijk. Near Numansdorp it splits into the Haringvliet and the Volkerak.HistoryThe Hollands Diep was formed as a result of the extensive flooding event of 1216, which breached the dunes of Voorne and created a deep saltwater inlet (the current Haringvliet). During a second flooding event, the St. Elizabeth floods, this inlet connected to the Merwede and became an important estuary of the Rhine and Meuse rivers. From that moment on, the freshwater part of the estuary (east of the Hellegatsplein) was renamed Hollands Diep. The former river Striene, that used to connect the Meuse with the Scheldt, was completely destroyed by these flooding events and can no longer be recognised on maps.