Zoeterwoude has officially existed since 1276, when Dirk van Santhorst received the manor 'Sotrewold' as a fief. The name suggests a freshwater swamp — 'sweet water in the wood' — that was reclaimed for generations into the polder landscape that still defines the village. Two large parts, Zoeterwoude-Dorp (inland) and Zoeterwoude-Rijndijk (on the Old Rhine), together form the municipality.
The Hoge Rijndijk got its name around 1330 and 1414, when the dyke along the Old Rhine was substantially raised. Along it small settlements, country estates and a small monastery sprang up. During the Siege of Leiden (1574), the hamlets of Rijnegom and Meerburg were demolished by the Leiden population — to deny the Spanish cover. Later, on the site of Meerburg, a country house was rebuilt, and the nineteenth-century Meerburgkerk stood next to it: a neo-Romanesque domed church dedicated to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, consecrated in 1896 to a design by J.H. Tonnaer. The photo above shows that church and the Meerburg building.
Between the two church villages stretched — and stretches — the polder landscape of Weipoort, Gelderswoude and the Westeinderplas. In the twentieth century major industry arrived: Heineken built its main brewery in Zoeterwoude in 1975, and since then the village is also where a substantial part of Dutch beer comes from. Yet Zoeterwoude has retained its village character and its farmsteads.
Living in Zoeterwoude means being squeezed between Leiden, Alphen and Zoetermeer — but with meadows on every side. A fine place to find calm; less fine if you have to arrange everything yourself. We run set pickup days through the municipality — Zoeterwoude-Dorp, Zoeterwoude-Rijndijk, Weipoort. Your bag is ready in the morning, and comes back in the evening clean and ironed with the same driver. A calm rhythm, for a calm village.
How Wastas works in Zoeterwoude
On the set pickup day our driver is at your door. Clean laundry comes back by appointment — folded or on hangers, however you like it.
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