Soest, Netherlands

Soest
Municipality
Flag Coat of arms
Country	Netherlands
Province	Utrecht
Area (2006)
• Total	46.45 km2 (17.93 sq mi)
• Land	46.26 km2 (17.86 sq mi)
• Water	0.19 km2 (0.07 sq mi)
Population  (1 January 2007)
• Total	45,346
• Density	980/km2 (2,500/sq mi)
	Source: CBS, Statline.
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)

Soest () is a municipality and a town in the central Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. It is located about 6 km west of Amersfoort.

Population centres

• Soest
• Soestduinen
• Soestdijk
• Soesterberg

The town of Soest

The oldest documents mentioning Soest (then written as Zoys) date from 1029. Its oldest church (the Oude Kerk, meaning Old Church), which is still in use today, dates from the fifteenth century. Traces of earlier habitation are found though. The area of "Hees", now at the outskirts of Soest may date in to the Early Middle Ages, and prehistoric burial mounds in the Soesterduinen point to early habitation in this area.

Medieval agricultural activity is still visible as there is much farmland within Soest. The biggest area is in the center of the town, on a hill, and are called 'de Engh'. A small street is het Kerkpad (literally, the Church Path). The Soesterduinen, in the South, sand dunes, are worth visiting.

Upon visiting Soest, numerous churches depict the Calvinist/Catholic tradition of the region. Christengemeente Soest, Wilhelmina Kerk Soest, Gereformeerde Kerk Vrijgemaakt, Emmakerk and the Evangelische Kerk Soest are the main churches within the town of Soest.

Currently some 50,000 inhabitants live in Soest, consisting mainly of commuters.

Transport

Soest has three railway stations:

• Soestdijk
• Soest
• Soest Zuid

Soest can be reached by train (every half hour) from Utrecht (xx:05 and xx:35) and Baarn (xx:23 and xx:53); all trains stop at the three stations. The station of Soestduinen situated on the railroad between Utrecht and Amersfoort was closed in 1998, after being in use for 135 years.

The stations that can be reached directly from Soest are:

• Baarn
• Den Dolder
• Bilthoven
• Utrecht Overvecht
• Utrecht Centraal

Soest has a number of bus stops and three bus lines, all of which leave from the bus station at Soest Zuid exactly at the half hour. Line 1 and 2 are local buses that do not leave Soest. Line 70, however, travels both directions to Amersfoort and Hilversum. Recently, this line includes Leusden.

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in The Netherlands

Twin towns — Sister cities

Soest, Netherlands is twinned with:

• Soest, Germany, since 3 June 2004

External links

• Official Website (in Dutch)
• Welcome in Soest (in Dutch)
• Wecome in Soest (in English)
• Map
• History of transportation in Soest by Nico Spilt.
• Christengemeente Soest
• Wilhelmina church Soest
• Gereformeerde Kerk Vrijgemaakt
• [1]

References

Notes