Catharijnepoort Huis Bever-Schaep Korte Engelenburgkade Dordrecht Netherlands by Hendrik-Jan Kornelis

About "Catharijnepoort Huis Bever-Schaep Korte Engelenburgkade Dordrecht Netherlands"

by Hendrik-Jan Kornelis

About the artwork

The Catrijnepoort is a city gate in the South Holland city of Dordrecht. The gate stands on the Hooikade along the Oude Maas and forms the closure of the Korte Engelenburgerkade. It is one of Dordrecht's two remaining city gates; the other is the Groothoofdspoort. In the register of monuments, the gate is listed as Catharijnepoort.

The Catrijnepoort was built in 1652, at the same time as its twin sister, the Annapoort, at the other end of the Hooikade, to close off the Mazelaarsstraat. The Anna gate was demolished in 1869. They were built as decoration after the digging of the Maartensgat (from 1647) and the construction of the surrounding grounds. They had no defensive function, nor were they ever part of a city wall.

The oldest mention dates from 1655 as "St. Catarine gate". However, it is unlikely that in Protestant Dordrecht the gate bore the name of St Catherine. It is possible that the gate was named after Christina Pijl, the wife of mayor Cornelis van Beveren, with the name becoming corrupted via Kerstyne to Catryne, as in the 1665 entry ("cateryne poort").

Johan Reepmaker (Amsterdam, 20 January 1647 - 's-Gravendeel, 21 January 1686) was a scion of the Amsterdam regent family Trip.

Between 1666 and 1671, he travelled through Germany, Austria, Italy, France and Belgium, and had an audience with King Louis XIV in Paris in the company of Mr Pieter de Groot, Ambassador of the States. He also dined with the Queen and the Dauphin. His travel descriptions have been preserved and are in the city archives in Rotterdam.

On 25 April 1674 in Middelburg, he married Christina de Beveren, scion of the Van Beveren regent family of Dordrecht, daughter of Mr Willem de Beveren, Lord of Strevelshoek (1624-1672) and Cornelia Schaep (1628-1666).