Dordrecht

In 1421, a massive flood swallowed dozens of villages south of Dordrecht in a single night. The Saint Elizabeth's Flood killed at least 2,000 people and turned Dordrecht into an island surrounded by five rivers.

It still is today.

Dordrecht received city rights in 1220, making it the oldest city in Holland. Vikings had already raided it in 846.

For centuries it controlled the most important river crossing in the region, taxing every barrel of wine, timber, and grain that passed through.

In 1572, rebel fighters called the Sea Beggars captured the city from Spain and called an emergency meeting of Dutch provinces in Dordrecht's town hall. That meeting, the First Free Assembly, was the moment the Netherlands formally decided to fight for independence.

The building where it happened still stands.

Forty-six years later, Dordrecht hosted the Synod of Dort, a theological showdown between Calvinist factions from across Europe. The arguments over predestination and free will dragged on for six months across 154 sessions.

The five doctrines that came out of it, known as the Five Points of Calvinism, still shape Protestant churches worldwide today.

Three of the Dutch Golden Age's most important painters were born here. Aelbert Cuyp, Ferdinand Bol, and Nicolaes Maes all grew up in Dordrecht. The Dordrechts Museum holds a serious collection of their work.

Climb the Grote Kerk tower and ring the carillon, which contains 67 bells including the heaviest in the Netherlands at 9,830 kilograms. Walk the old inner harbors along Wolwevershaven and Nieuwe Haven, lined with merchant houses that have barely changed since the 17th century.

Take a boat or canoe into the Biesbosch National Park just outside the city, one of the last freshwater tidal areas in Europe, where you can get genuinely lost in a maze of rivers and reeds.

Stop into Villa Augustus, a former water tower converted into a hotel and restaurant with a kitchen garden built into the old reservoir.