Hellevoetsluis. Hellevoetsluis is a small city and municipality in the western Netherlands. It is located in Voorne-Putten, South Holland. The municipality covers an area of 61.20 km 2 of which 20.10 km 2 is water and it includes the population centres Nieuw-Helvoet, Nieuwenhoorn, and Oude en Nieuwe Struiten, all former municipalities. Hellevoetsluis is located on the Haringvliet with the sea, beach, and dunes close by, on the extreme southern edge of the Rijnmond and Europoort areas, close to the broad Zeeland landscape. The name translates as lock at the foot of the Helle. The Helle was a small local river that disappeared over time. The area has been settled since before Roman times and was concentrated around a body of water called theHelle, which was later Latinized by the Romans to Helinium and Helius. The name Hel Voet, Helius' foot or the lowest point of Helius, appears in documents from the 13th century and later, such as in 1395, when the Nieuw-Helvoet Polder is issued for inspection. This polder had a drainage sluice in the southern dike: the Hellevoetse sluis. The history of Hellevoetsluis has always been connected with water. During the time of the Eighty Year's War and the forming of the United Provinces Hellevoetsluis was the naval port of the Admiralty of de Maze and could accommodate an entire fleet within a special land-enclosed fortress with harbour and dockyard facilities, accessible through a canal. Thanks to its strategic situation the town grew from the beginning of the 17th century to be the homeport for the Dutch war fleet. In later years the port was fortified more and more and Hellevoetsluis, therefore, became a unique combination of a fortified town and a naval port. The Admirals Maarten Tromp, Michiel de Ruyter, and Piet Heyn had their home base here and in 1688 during the Glorious Revolution William III of Orange's invasion fleet departed from the port. The Kanaal door Voorne was built in 1830 from Hellevoetsluis to Nieuwesluis and made Hellevoetsluis an outport of Rotterdam. It was a period when the town grew and flourished; the shipping industry provided prosperity. Its neighbourhood Vlotbrug may have been named after a vlotbrug constructed over the canal. In the first half of the 20th century, however, Hellevoetsluis went into decline. Ocean-going ships became too large to use the canal and the Nieuwe Waterweg was dug, making the Canal through Voorne redundant. The naval base was relocated to Den Helder in the 1930s, the Government shipyard was closed, and during World War II the Germans destroyed three-quarters of all buildings in 1944. They also used the canal as a base for Biber submarines. After World War II Hellevoetsluis grew considerably. As a New Town, the population doubled in the 1970s. Today 43,000 inhabitants live in modern houses with abundant green areas nearby. It is home to many commuters working in Europoort or Rotterdam. During the flood of 1953 Hellevoetsluis was inundated and after this flood, the Netherlands implemented theDeltawerken, a vast plan that put in place sea-defenses such as dams to protect vulnerable Islands in the Meuse-Rhine river delta. The city is home to several buildings from the 16th-19th Centuries that are listed monuments. Among these are the Admiraliteitsgebouw, the de Hoop windmill, Fort/Bastion Haerlem, Droogdok Jan Blanken: a historic shipbuilding site and, the Water Tower Hellevoetsluis, designed by architect N. Biezeveld and built in 1896. Hellevoetsluis has many shops: in addition to the various small shopping centres, there is the covered shopping centre De Struytse Hoeck, which has over 120 shops and is partly built over the Canal through Voorne. Education up to secondary school level, a library, community centres, health care, and modern facilities for water sport are all available. Following the construction of the Haringvliet locks, the Haringvliet is ideal water for surfing and sailing. There are also extensive mooring facilities. Close by are the beach and the dunes at Voorne, a nature reserve. Hellevoetsluis is one of the largest water sports centres in the country. There are 2,000 mooring places, spread over five harbours. With such a broad expanse of water as the Haringvliet and the North Sea close by, it is popular with water sports lovers and the Haringvliet is being used increasingly for national and international water sports events. The old town centre, the fortress, has many terraces that look out upon the busy harbour and plenty of bars and restaurants serving 'international' food. There are also restaurants and bars outside the fortress. A petting zoo, a sailing school, a fitness centre, tennis courts, a sauna, etc., are nearby.