The municipality of Westervoort

Visitors coming to Westervoort will discover a part of the Netherlands that is situated exactly where the rivers Rhine and IJssel decide to go their separate ways. The scenery between these two rivers is astonishingly beautiful and includes forelands and huge banks of clouds over the rivers, with Westervoort right in the centre of attention.

Westervoort is a municipality in De Liemers in the province of Gelderland, it has a population of 15,440 (as of 1 February 2008, source: Netherlands Statistics) and covers a total area of 7.85 km² (1 km² of which is water). Westervoort lies close to Arnhem and has two rivers within its borders: the river Rhine and the river IJssel. Before 1800, Westervoort was a so-called Heerlijkheid, a kind of manor headed by the ‘Lord of Westervoort'. The municipality of Westervoort is part of the Arnhem-Nijmegen City Region. 

Westervoort as 'gateway to De Liemers' was mentioned in historical documents as early as 726. From the very beginning, a lot of agrarian activity took place on the fertile river clay. Objects of interest in Westervoort are, among other things, the Protestant Church on Dorpstraat, and the "castle" or Huize Vredenburg, a manor where often exhibitions are held. But equally worth seeing is the former Dutch Reformed Church [Nederlands Hervormde Kerk] at Brouwerslaan, which is recently renovated and converted into a gallery

Westervoort currently has three churches, adequate basic schooling, pre-school playgroups, a shopping mall, a sports centre with indoor swimming pool, tennis courts, a squash centre, a riding school and socio-cultural centre with a sports hall. As can be evidenced from all these facilities, Westervoort has intricate social networks in the areas of sports and culture.

Read more:
www.westervoort.nl (only in Dutch)