Maasdam

Maasdam is a village in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is located about 14 km south of the city of Rotterdam, in the municipality of Binnenmaas, on the rural Hoekse Waard island.

From the 14th Century until around 1800, Maasdam was also the name of the local administrative area, the fief and later the "ambacht".

Subsequently, from 1 January 1812 until 1 January 1984, it became the name of the local municipality, which comprised the village of Maasdam and the surrounding polders. In the periods 1812 - 1817 and 1832 - 1984, the hamlet of Cillaarshoek and the hamlet and polder of Sint Anthoniepolder were also part of the municipality of Maasdam.

The municipality of Maasdam was eventually merged with some surrounding municipalities to become part of the new municipality of Binnenmaas. The exception was Cillaarshoek which was split and partly merged into the existing municipality of Strijen.

Maasdam was founded in the 13th Century in an area which at the time was part of the County of Holland, a state within the Holy Roman Empire.

The current village covers areas that were separated by the river Maas until a permanent dam was built around 1270, from which the village took its name. However, archeological findings have indicated that the area hosted significant human habitations as early as the start of the Roman Flavian dynasty.

Excavations in several locations have suggested that there was a large Roman settlement in the Maasdam area (on the northern shore of the river) probably from around 70 AD. Remains have been found of Roman roads, a bridge, a burial field, a harbor complex and even a Roman version of a dam in the river Maas suggesting that it was seen as a location of strategic importance on the North Western border of the Roman Empire.

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