Botanical Gardens / Fort Hoofddijk
Budapestlaan 17
From a fort to a paleomagnetic laboratory in a botanical garden — The botanical gardens of Fort Hoofddijk offer you a unique opportunity to admire thousands of plants and flowers as you stroll through the system garden, climb through the rock garden and/or sweat your way through the tropical greenhouses. It is also a great source of inspiration for your own garden, large or small.
Fort Hoofddijk was part of the Nieuwe Hollandsche Waterlinie (New Dutch Waterline) , a 19th century line of defence aimed at flooding certain areas to halt the enemy.
The Waterline was constructed so that the enemy’s horses and cannons would get stuck in the mud. Forts were built on higher grounds that did not flood. Fort Hoofddijk dates back to 1879. Forts were supposed to protect important roads and railway lines, and they kept the locks from falling into enemy hands.
