Holiday apartment in Zwammerdam: Roman history and waterside routes

Zwammerdam combines Roman history with a landscape of rivers, canals and farmland. At its centre is Nigrum Pullum, a Roman fort on the Roman Limes in Zuid-Holland. There are also churches, memorial sites and signposted routes. If you are planning a holiday apartment in Zwammerdam, you can organise your stay around these different ways of exploring the town’s history.

Roman heritage with unusual finds

Nigrum Pullum is the smallest known fort on the Lower Germanic Limes and covered approximately 1.2 hectares. Around 300 Roman soldiers lived in the fort. Several hundred civilians probably lived in the adjacent vicus of Nigrum Pullum, including women, children, craftsmen and merchants.

During excavations in Zwammerdam in the 1970s, six Roman ships were discovered: three canoes and three flat-bottomed boats. In December 1971, old wood was discovered on the grounds of Hooge Burgh during work on an underground transport system; it proved to be a Roman dugout canoe. Five more Roman river vessels were found shortly afterwards. What was unusual about ships of this type was the particularly complete condition of the finds.

The visitor centre at Ipse de Bruggen, next to Grandcafé de Haven, has a permanent, free exhibition of archaeological finds. On the grounds of the Ipse de Bruggen care facility, the foundations of the stone rear gate, part of the wall and the associated headquarters, the Principia, have also been made visible in the landscape.

Churches and memorial sites

The religious buildings also tell a story. The Remonstrantse Schuilkerk is the oldest Remonstrant church building that is still used as such for quarterly regional services. The original Remonstrant church was built in 1636, destroyed by French troops in 1672 and put back into use after restoration in 1676.

The Dutch Reformed Church in Zwammerdam is a single-nave, late Gothic cross church with a five-sided closed choir and wooden barrel vaults with tie beams. The resistance memorial commemorates four local resistance fighters who were shot by the occupying power during the Second World War. Two grave slabs at the resistance memorial commemorate nine Dutch military personnel.

Signposted routes through rivers, canals and farmland

Stage 05 of the Romeinse Limespad is one option for routes through the landscape. It is characterised by rivers, canals and farmland and is signposted as a marked route. The stage runs from Zwammerdam to the site where the Roman fort Nigrum Pullum, a settlement outside the fort, quays and ships were discovered.

Another thematically suitable way of finding your bearings is the 33-kilometre cycling route “Leve de Romeinen”. It runs from milestone to milestone, with Zwammerdam listed as a reference point on the route.

Holiday apartment in Zwammerdam to suit your travel rhythm

When choosing a holiday apartment in Zwammerdam, you can therefore decide on the focus of your stay: Roman finds and visible architectural remains, churches and memorial sites, or routes through rivers, canals and farmland. Your accommodation can then match the travel rhythm you have planned for your days combining culture and activity.

Other places for orientation: Alphen Aan Den Rijn, Aarlanderveen.

To the higher-level travel overview: Alphen Aan Den Rijn.