Dordrecht, city in the southwestern Netherlands, in Zuid-Holland (South Holland) Province, on an island in the Merwede River (the lower Mass), near Rotterdam. Industrial establishments in Dordrecht include gristmills, sawmills, shipyards, and factories producing chocolate, cigars, cordage, glass, and metalware. The city has a good harbor and a considerable trade in wine. It is an import center for lumber from Scandinavia and North America. A notable architectural feature of Dordrecht is the 14th-century Church of Our Lady, which contains mid-16th-century carved stalls depicting biblical scenes. Museums here house several paintings by famous Dutch masters. Founded in 1008, Dordrecht was the commercial center of the region and a member of the Hanseatic League, a commercial federation of European cities. The site of the city was formerly on the mainland but became an island after a river flood in 1421. In 1572 the first assembly of the independent states of Holland was held at Dordrecht, and in 1618 and 1619 the city was the meeting place of the Synod of Dort, which affirmed the doctrines of the French theologian and reformer John Calvin and rejected Arminianism. Population (2000) 119,811.
