Gouda

Gouda, or Ter-Gouwe, a town in the province of South Holland, Netherlands, at the junction of the Gouw and the Yssel, eleven miles by railway from Rotterdam. It dates as a town from the end of the thirteenth century, and its early prosperity was derived from brewing, weaving, and the making of tobacco-pipes. It is now the great mart for Dutch cheese, and the Groote Markt is the largest in Holland. The town is well laid out and intersected by many canals, the suburbs being planted with trees. The church of St. John is a fine sixteenth-century structure, containing admirable painted glass and a famous organ. The Town House. rebuilt in the Gothic style (1690), has architectural merits. There is a large general trade both in imports and exports.