Why you should visit the city of Goes
Island Stories #19: A stroll through the harbor and history of this old city and watch the short video.
I made a short, two-minute video with impressions of the harbor of Goes. I haven't mentioned Goes in my earlier island notes, and strictly speaking, it isn't on an island anymore since building a railway line to the mainland to the east. That is nothing special in Zeeland, where dams connect most islands since the flooding of 1953; it is just that the island of Zuid-Beveland was two generations ahead of the others.
Living in a village, I rely on the nearby cities for anything that I can't get close to home. For example, you can't find a vegetarian restaurant, a bookshop, or a covid vaccination in Burgh-Haamstede. Zierikzee is the first option; it is the biggest town on the island, but with some 10,000 inhabitants, it is often not big enough for what I need. The next step up is either Middelburg on the (former) island of Walcheren or Goes. Finally, if all that doesn't work, I have to go to Rotterdam or The Hague.
The harbor of Goes
Yesterday, I strolled through the streets near the harbor of Goes. As so often in Zeeland, history is alive and all around you. After the last ice age, this area was dry and intersected with creeks. People lived here until Roman times, but then, as so often in the history of Zeeland, the water won the constant battle between the land and water.
It was only some 1,200 years ago that people returned and settled on the creek ridges. They founded Goes on these slightly higher grounds in the 10th century. A massive flood in 1134 left a new creek; it was later dammed and formed the harbor of Goes when various quays expanded around it.
City rights
One of the most essential privileges for Goes was issued in 1417 by Jacoba van Beieren. She gave the city the right to dig canals around the city, build ramparts and build gates. Goes then developed favorably due to the harbor, and in the first half of the 16th century, Goes was the center of the Dutch salt industry. Salt was the basis for preserving food; shipping and trade depended on it. On either side of the old port, there was a bustling 24-hour economy around the salt chain, including ship repair companies.
After the mid-16th century, the city's fortunes changed. First, there was the great flood of 1530, followed by the fire of 1554, the 80-year war, and the general economic malaise. After the fire, entire streets were rebuilt and became a bit wider and more linear. The vast majority of the current Goes street plan hasn't changed much since the mid 16th century.
I hope you will enjoy this short virtual stroll through the harbor. What you see in just two minutes is the result of 2000 years of the relationship between the people and the water. The water was both a threat to the welfare and a significant reason for the city's prosperity.
If you ever visit these islands, Goes is a nice stop on your tour through Zeeland.
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Notes:
I found most information about the history of Goes in this article (in Dutch): http://www.rvscaldis.nl/uploads/images/lustrum2015/000%20Vaartocht%20door%20de%20haven%20van%20Goes.pdf
Beautiful town, thank you for sharing. Sorry that I've not been active here recently, I've been struggling with a temperature for several days that reached 39.9C. Thankfully it is coming down and I am able to eat more than one bowl of fruit in a 24 hour period!
This looks like a place to visit for sure. Loving the history. I guess it's similar all over the world, places thrive where there is water. Just saw that there is a museum about the history of Beverland in Goes.
Thank you for always including sources in Dutch. Today I learned a new word "kade". I don't usually look up words I don't understand as long as I get the context, but this one popped up so many times ;-)
Loved watching that video - it sure made me feel like I was right there. Thank you for sharing the beauty of Goes.