About the town » Gemeente Capelle aan den IJssel, Gemeente Capelle aan den IJssel, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands

Capelle aan den IJssel is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality had a population of 65,605 in 2005, and covers an area of 15.42 km², of which 1.13 km² is water. It is situated on the eastern edge of Rotterdam, on the Hollandse IJssel river. Capelle aan den IJssel's most famous resident is former Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, who has lived there since 1999. The town has what is probably the country's smallest museum, the Dief en Duif huis ("House of Thieves and Pigeons"). Now a historical museum, it served as the prison for the castle of Capelle and is all that now remains of the 16th century castle. On opposing sides of the A16 motorway are two business parks called Rivium and Brainpark respectively. Companies based in the larger Rivium include Rockwell Automation, Pfizer Nederland, Sodexho Nederland, Royal Dutch Shell, Van Oord, and many more.