Send Gift Baskets to Zeist, Netherlands

In 838, the town of Seist first appeared in a charter. At the present Dorpsstraat, the original settlement once stood. It was here that a church was built in the 12th century. In the 19th century, the remaining portion of the tower was added to the Reformed Church. Before medieval times, a branch of the Rhine river flowed close to the center of the town. Three mansions were built near the village: the Huis te Zeist, Kersbergen, and Blikkenburg.

The Slot Zeist was constructed between 1677 and 1686 on the ruins of the original castle (donjon) of Rodgar van Zeist. Godefridus de Seist lived there in the 12th century, and another Godefridus, a knight, lived there in the 13th century with his son Johannes and daughter Petronilla. There needs to be more documentation about the family, but a few names are found: Godefridus de Seist in the 12th century and Godefridus de Seist in the late 13th century. A woman, Elisabeth (? ), who married a Borre van Amerongen family member, was the last member of the van Zeist family. (Bronnen voor de geschiedenis van Zeist, deel 1, ed. Van Hinsbergen) Their son took the name and coat of arms of his parents.

Slot Zeist was built in the Dutch Classicist style by Count Willem Adriaan van Nassau, an illegitimate Prince Maurice of Orange descendant. There are still several murals by Daniel Marot that remain intact. They built an impressive array of 18th-century Classicist houses around two squares for their community, which went by Evangelische Broedergemeente (Evangelical Brethren’s Congregation). They still have their headquarters in the heart of town, next to the palace. Utrecht Archival Centre holds the oldest Moravian archives in the Netherlands.