About the town » Schoonhoven, Krimpenerwaard, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands

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Schoonhoven is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality has a population of 11,819 as of 2012, and covers an area of 6.96 km² (of which 0.67 km² water). It is now the smallest municipality in the Netherlands in land area, following the merger of Rozenburg into Rotterdam. A shows the north and west town walls, which were common during medieval times in the Netherlands. The only remaining medieval entrance gate of Schoonhoven is the Veerpoort (Ferry Gate) next to the Lek River (see external link 4). This Veerpoort has protected Schoonhoven from the floods of the river Rhine and from the sea during the North Sea flood of 1953 and is still fully functional as a water barrier today. A ferry transporting both vehicles and pedestrians across the Lek River (see external link 5) connects Schoonhoven with Gelkenes in the municipality of Molenwaard. In the grassy fields around the city of Schoonhoven you can see a magnificent bird life such as storks (external link 6). The first winner of the Dutch version of Pop Idol, Jamai Loman, is from this town. Also Jan-Arie van der Heijden, player of football club Ajax, lives in Schoonhoven.