Hellevoetsluis
Hellevoetsluis () is a small city in the western Netherlands. It is located in Voorne-Putten, South Holland. The former municipality covered an area of of which was water and it included the population centres of 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. On 1 January 2023, the municipality of Hellevoetsluis merged with Brielle and Westvoorne into the new municipality of Voorne aan Zee. History The area has been settled since before Roman times and was concentrated around a body of water called the "Helle", which was later Latinized by the Romans to "Helinium" and "Helius". The name Hel(le) Voet, Helius' foot or "(land at) 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 (Dutch: "sluis") in the southern dike: the Hellevoetse