Every design for Ijsselstein

IJsselstein sits on the Hollandse IJssel, the river that gives it its name, on the edge of the Utrecht area between Nieuwegein, Montfoort and Lopik. Today it is a commuter town, linked to the city by the Sneltram light rail, but its story is far older than that.

What makes it unusual is that it was once almost a country of its own. The town grew around a castle owned by Gijsbrecht van Amstel from 1279; it later passed to William of Orange through his marriage, and in the eighteenth century the barony became a small tax haven that drew wealthy residents from all over the Republic. The old town is still ringed by a little canal, the castle tower still stands, and two large churches are both named after St Nicholas: the Protestant Nicolaaskerk, founded in 1310 and holding the tomb of the Van Amstel family, and a neo-Gothic Catholic basilica. On the outskirts rises the Gerbrandy Tower, the television mast that many people wrongly call the Lopik mast.

If you can walk from the Kasteelpark to the Benschopperpoort without thinking about it, this map is yours to wear.