Dort,

Dort, or DORDRECHT, a town of the Netherlands, in the province of South Holland, is situated on an island formed by the Maas, 10 miles SE. of Rotterdam by rail. An inundation in 1421, in which upwards of 70 villages were destroyed and 100,000 people drowned, separated the site upon which Dort stands from the mainland. It is one of the oldest, as in the middle ages it was the richest of the trading towns of Holland; and its trade is still considerable. Among its chief buildings are a Gothic cathedral (1363) and a handsome town-hall (1339). The town is traversed by canals, and the largest East-Indiamen, and gigantic wood-rafts which come down the Rhine from the Black Forest and Switzerland, are accommodated in its roomy harbour. Close by are a large number of shipyards, corn and saw mills, and manufactories of oil, sugar, ironwares, and machinery. Pop. (1874) 25,577; (1892) 34,125. Dort was founded in 1013. Here in 1572, the States of Holland, after the revolt from Spain, held their first assembly; and sat from 13th November 1618 to 19th May 1619, the conclave of Protestant divines known as the Synod of Dort, which condemned the doctrines of Arminius as heretical, and affirmed those of Calvin (see ARMINIUS). The house in which the synod sat has been demolished. Dort is the birthplace of the brothers De Witt, of Cuyp, and Ary Scheffer; to the last a statue was erected in the market-place in 1862.