Puttershoek, Mijnsheerenland, 's-Gravendeel

Today your route starts in Puttershoek, on the Oude Maas. After the flood of 1953, almost all houses on Weverseinde, located directly on the Oude Maas, were demolished in order to raise the dike to Delta height. Only the 16th century harbour, the Schouteneinde and the part of the old village center around the Arent van Lierstraat have been preserved. Here are the old town hall of Puttershoek, on which the coat of arms (three black French lilies on a silver shield) can still be seen, and the old post office"Springende Peert\\\" (with stepped gable and gable stone), that recalls the time when Puttershoek was a stopping place on the postal road from Rotterdam to Antwerp. Also worth seeing is the De Lelie flour mill on the Molendijk and the old doctor's house at Schouteneinde 28.

From the village you first follow the Oude Maas - once the mouth of the Maas - for a long way. In the Middle Ages, the mouth of the Maas was formed by two parallel streams (the current Oude Maas and Binnenbedijkte Maas) that came together in the current Hoeksche Waard and flowed towards the Maas estuary. After the Sint-Elisabeth flood, most of the Meuse water between Dordrecht and Werkendam was directed in a south-westerly direction, through the Biesbosch, away from the original estuary arms. After this, the southern Maasloop was completely dammed and diked (the current Binnenbedijkte Maas) and the northern branch was given the name Oude Maas. However, part of the Maas water was still able to reach the Oude Maas for a long time, via the Beneden-Merwede.

After the digging of the Bergsche Maas and the closure of the Afgedamde Maas, the Meuse water could no longer reach the Merwede and the Oude Maas was completely cut off from its source river. Since then, the river has only been fed by the Rhine, of which it is an important estuary. After the Delta Works were completed, the situation changed again. The Bergsche Maas flows into the Hollandsch Diep, which eventually turns into the Haringvliet. After this important estuary of the Rhine and Meuse was separated from the sea by the Haringvlietdam, the water had to find an alternative route. The result was that the Spui (a branch of the Oude Maas towards the Haringvliet) started to flow in the opposite direction, so that the lower reaches of the Oude Maas were again (partly) fed by the Maas.

In Mijnsheerenland you will pass a beautiful spot: the Hof van Moerkerken, where an 18th-century country house is now located. A monumental gate in an early version of the Louis XVI style from 1776 marks the entrance. As of 2007, the building is privately owned and is supervised by Monumentenzorg.

However, the history of the Hof van Moerkerken goes back much further: to 1440, when the Flemish knight Lodewijk van Praet settled in the Netherlands. In 1424 he came into possession of various lands along the earbank of the Maas. Here he had the area from the Munnikenland to the Westmaas dammed, constructed the Westdijk and completed the new polder by means of the Blaakse dike to Puttershoek and from there along the Boezemvliet to the Maasdam. A village was built in this polder that was first called 's-Heerenland, later Mijnsheerenland van Moerkerken and finally Mijnsheerenland.

The Hof van Moerkerken itself was probably built around 1445. With the death of Vranck van Praet's widow in 1514, the court changed hands. Around 1600 the court was described as a "tamelick" mansion. In 1663 the house burned down and in 1664 work began on the current building. A thorough renovation took place around 1796, which gave the country house its current appearance.

The house has a special history: prior to the Second World War, the Hof van Moerkerken temporarily served as a refugee shelter and during the Second World War a convalescent home for tuberculosis patients was located in the court. But Frederik van Eeden's stay at the court is particularly special: his novel Of the Cool Lakes of Death was written here and later partly filmed at this location.

You cycle a beautiful route back to your starting point via Maasdam, Strijen and 's-Gravendeel.