Huis te Riviere

My old "back yard"...what can I say?

The ruins of the former Huis te Riviere, the castle of Aleida van Avesnes, are somewhat hidden away at the Stadskantoor on Stadserf in Schiedam. This daughter of Count Floris IV of Holland and widow of Jan van Avesnes, built the castle in a newly purchased polder on the Schie. It is a strategically located castle on important waterways such as Schie and Maas. The castle was an almost square complex, and is the oldest known square castle in the county of Holland. The castle had several wooden and stone buildings and probably a walkway ran to the keep (residential tower). The donjon sagged by the marshy soil during construction, this can still be seen. The building was damaged and repaired several times. The acts of war during the Eighty Years' War, however, made the castle fatal: in 1574 the castle was destroyed by Dutchmen so that the Spaniards could not use it. The current ruin is the remainder of the two lower floors of the fortified castle tower. This is 1 of the must-see sights of historic Schiedam

Nice place to wait for the tram which, of course, still has to wait. After all, it remains the RET ....

a nice ruin is a pity that it is not kept up, especially the ditch is filthy

Rotterdam and Amsterdam still look great.