Monuments and heritage

What is heritage?

Heritage is a collective term for all cultural-historical valuable things from the past. This includes monuments, archaeologically valuable areas and finds, landscapes, protected cityscapes, archives and objects and collections in museums.

National Monuments

Zoetermeer has 15 national monuments. National monuments are of national importance. In addition to the municipality, the government is also responsible. The basis for the protection and maintenance of national monuments is in the Environmental Act. For more information: National Monument Activity in the Environmental Act | Information Point Living Environment (iplo.nl) .

Map with national and municipal monuments in Zoetermeer

Municipal monuments

Municipal monuments are monuments of local or regional importance. The municipality is responsible for their protection. The legal basis for this is contained in the municipal Heritage Ordinance, which contains the rules on municipal monuments. For more information: Heritage Ordinance Zoetermeer 2022 | Local laws and regulations (overheid.nl) .

Map with national and municipal monuments

This map shows the plots and buildings/objects that belong to national and municipal monuments. If you are going to rebuild or demolish a monument on these plots or use it differently, you will need an environmental permit .

The map also contains the explanatory description of the municipal monuments. The explanatory description indicates why a building/object is a monument. In a decision on an application to, for example, change the use, renovate or demolish a monument, the explanatory description is leading.

Since December 15, 2020, all municipal monuments in Zoetermeer have a monument ID (on the Heritage Zoetermeer map (to be found). If you are applying for a permit that has consequences for a municipal monument, you can fill in this number on the application form.

Cityscapes Zoetermeer

Protected townscapes or village views are groups of immovable properties that are of general interest because of their aesthetic value, their mutual spatial or structural coherence or their scientific or cultural-historical value. The legal basis is in the municipal Heritage Ordinance, which contains the rules on protected townscapes or village views. For more information: Heritage Ordinance Zoetermeer 2022 | Local laws and regulations (overheid.nl) .

Zoetermeer has 5 protected cityscapes, which were designated in February 2006 because of their valuable character:

  • Dorpsstraat , the historic village centre with a well-preserved road, water and green structure.
  • Meerpolder, the oldest polder in Rijnland, designated as a top cultural heritage area in the Belvedere memorandum.
  • Voorweg, the best preserved historical polder ribbon.
  • Wilhelminapark, the oldest neighborhood park.
  • Koepeltjesbuurt in Meerzicht, characteristic calling card of Zoetermeer due to the white houses with orange domes.

Map of protected cityscapes Zoetermeer

Subsidy scheme for maintenance of monuments and other financing options

Are you the owner of a municipal monument in Zoetermeer? Then you can apply for a subsidy for standard maintenance. The subsidy must be applied for before the maintenance is carried out. For all information, see Subsidy - Monument .

Archeology Zoetermeer

There is also much of value to be found underground. Valuable archaeological data can be lost during renovations, demolition of buildings or paving of gardens or roads. There are 11 archaeologically protected areas in Zoetermeer:

  • The village mound ( Dorpsstraat )
  • The Horn
  • Delft and Leiden walls
  • Sayingward path
  • East Quay
  • Hildam
  • Forward road
  • Flemish Street
  • North Aasche Vliet
  • Land division
  • Zoetermeer Lake Polder

Heritage Regulation Zoetermeer

The Zoetermeer Heritage Ordinance has been published on www.overheid.nl On this website you can view all regulations applicable to the city of Zoetermeer and search them using various criteria.

Open Monument Day

In 1987, the national Open Monument Day was organized for the first time. The municipality of Zoetermeer, always in close cooperation with the Historical Society Oud Soetermeer , participated from the beginning. The Open Monument Day aims to bring people into contact with their historical, built environment and thus increase interest in monuments. During this day - every second Saturday of September - many monuments are open for a visit between 10:00 and 16:00. They are often the scene of all kinds of activities such as exhibitions, guided tours, lectures and concerts.

A theme is established nationally each year. The 'Modern Monuments' theme (2007) in which municipal architect Jan Dekker (1893-1954) was put in the spotlight, 'Traces from the past' (2009) and the 'Taste of the 19th century' with an emphasis on Zoetermeer dairy (2010) were very successful in Zoetermeer.

It has now become a good custom that every year on the occasion of Open Monument Day, together with the Historical Society Oud Soetermeer a booklet is published on a subject related to that year's theme.

Open Monument Day September 13 and 14, 2025

The theme of the Open Monument Day Zoetermeer in 2025 is 'Architecture of the growth core'.