Streets with a story
Voorstraat, Wijnstraat and the old harbours
Walk through the oldest city in Holland and you walk over centuries of history. Five places you should not miss, with the facts you will want to know.
Jump to: Voorstraat · Wijnstraat · Groothoofd · Wolwevershaven · Kuipershaven
Voorstraat
The Voorstraat is about 1.2 kilometres long and is considered one of the longest shopping streets in the Netherlands. The street lies on an old dyke: at high water, flood boards are still put in place at some points to hold back the water.
- The street is lined with some 193 national monuments, mostly from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.
- Voorstraat 265 is the narrowest house in Dordrecht: about 2.80 metres wide, built in 1632 above the Donkere Steiger.
- Through a narrow gateway on the Voorstraat you reach Het Hof, where the First Free States Assembly was held in 1572.
- In the 17th century, retired buccaneers lived here. The most famous Dordt pirate was Laurens de Graaf (1653–1704), nicknamed the “Scourge of the West”.
- The Augustijnenkerk and the Walloon Church are also on this street.
Wijnstraat
The Wijnstraat runs from the Ary Schefferplein to the Groothoofdspoort. With 62 national monuments, it is one of the most beautiful streets in the city. Look closely: many of the old buildings are visibly crooked.
- The West-Indisch Huis at number 87 recalls the trade with the other side of the ocean.
- Beverenburgh dates from 1556 and was built for the Van Beveren family of mayors.
- Another well-known building is De Onbeschaamde.
- Look out for the small ANWB signs on the facades: they tell you what a building is called and what it used to be.
Groothoofd
At the Groothoofd you stand on the tip of the city, where three rivers meet: the Oude Maas, the Merwede and the Noord. This three-rivers point is one of the busiest waterway junctions in Europe, with an estimated 150,000 ships a year.
- The Groothoofdspoort is one of Dordrecht’s two surviving city gates; the other is the Catharijnepoort.
- The gate has a history of more than 500 years. If you arrive by water, it is the first thing you see, together with the Grote Kerk.
- On the river side sits the Maid of Dordrecht, with the city’s coat of arms and a palm branch, surrounded by 16 city coats of arms.
Wolwevershaven
The Wolwevershaven is the northernmost harbour of the old city centre. It was dug in 1609, and in the 17th and 18th centuries Dordrecht’s elite settled along the water.
- Around the harbour stand some 30 national monuments: merchants’ houses and warehouses for timber, grain and wine.
- The Dordts Patriciërshuis dates from 1649.
- The Stokholm building was a sugar refinery from 1730.
- In the middle of the harbour lies the Schroevendok Straatman from 1928. Until 1996, ship propellers and rudders were replaced and repaired here.
- The steel Damiatebrug from 1857 connects the Wolwevershaven with the Kuipershaven. Try counting the crosses in the horizontal beam!
- Classic ships are often moored along the quay.
Kuipershaven
The name says it all: this is where the coopers used to work, the makers of wooden barrels and casks. They were indispensable in a trading city where wine, beer and herring were transported by the barrel.
- At number 42 there is a barrel in the ironwork above the door, a nod to the old craft.
- Kuipershaven 146–148 is a national monument with a richly carved Louis XV cornice from 1766.
- The Kuipershaven is popular with filmmakers: in 2026 the harbour was transformed into the set of a German feature film. Read more under Dordrecht on film.
Want to discover these places yourself? Follow the walking route or play the city escape tour.