Goedereede

Q924091

Goedereede: location of a Roman port and fort on the shore of the North Sea.

In 173, the Chauci, a tribe that lived in what is now called Groningen and Ostfriesland, and was well-known for its sea-faring qualities, attacked what is now called Flanders. The governor of Gallia Belgica, Didius Julianus, defeated them. The Roman government responded by building several forts along the coast of what is now Zuid-Holland, Zeeland and West-Vlaanderen.

Because the sea has been active in the third century, the castle at Goeree must be sought somewhere off the coast. Its ruins have been seen in 1618 and were called Oude wereld ("ancient world"). Because the remains survived for centuries, it is likely that the fort was at some stage replaced by a heavily fortified castle, and we may assume that this happened in the fourth century.

The remains of a large Roman settlement have been found in the neighborhood (on the land). It may have been a port and trade center.

This page was created in 2003; last modified on 11 October 2020.