Vliet is a hamlet in the Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 province of Utrecht

Utrecht (province)

Utrecht is the smallest province of the Netherlands in terms of area, and is located in the centre of the country. It is bordered by the Eemmeer in the north, Gelderland in the east, the river Rhine in the south, South Holland in the west, and North Holland in the northwest...

. It is located about 1 km southwest of the city of Oudewater

Oudewater

Oudewater is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht.-Population centres :The municipality of Oudewater consists of the following cities, towns, villages and/or districts: Hekendorp, Oudewater, Papekop, Snelrewaard....

, on the south bank of the Hollandsche IJssel.

Vliet was a separate municipality between 1817 and 1846, when it became part of Haastrecht

Haastrecht

Haastrecht is a town on the Hollandse IJssel river in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Vlist, and lies about 5 km east of Gouda.In 2001, the town of Haastrecht had 3302 inhabitants...

. During that time, the area was part of the province of South Holland

South Holland

South Holland is a province situated on the North Sea in the western part of the Netherlands. The provincial capital is The Hague and its largest city is Rotterdam.South Holland is one of the most densely populated and industrialised areas in the world...

.

According to the 19th century historian A.J. van der Aa, there was no hamlet in the area in the middle of the 19th century. There were just eight houses, with a population of about 50. The area used to be a manor, called Vliet or "Ratelesvliet", and contained a castle, Te Vliet. The castle was probably built between 1250 and 1300, and existed at least until 1515. In 1647, it was already a ruin, and nowadays just one wall still exists.