That’s what Zoetermeer used to be called (and the villages and places around us)

The Dutch language sounded quite different a long time ago. That has changed over the years. on this map are the first used names of municipalities, mainly from Roman times. There are quite a few notable names among them!

Today we have funny nicknames for our city, such as Zoetje, Sweet Lake City and Zoeterminder. But in the past Zoetermeer was called Soetermere. Originating from a freshwater lake in a former Hollands-Utrecht peat area.

Surrounding villages

Surrounding villages used to have surprisingly different names. Leidhen was the name for Leiden. Alphen aan den Rijn used to be called Albanianis, Rijswijk was Riiswiic, Boskoop was Buckeskop, Waddinxveen was Waddinxuene, The Hague was Haga, Delft was Delf and Leidschendam was called Leidzen Dam.

Old place names

Have you become curious about what other place names have changed in the Netherlands? Check it out this map but once!

Image: imcur.com

More facts about our city:

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