In 1986, the Netherlands proclaimed the new 12th province of Flevoland but they didn't carve out the province from already existing land nor did they annex the territory of their neighbors - Germany and Belgium. The Netherlands actually grew.
The Dutch and their ancestors have been working to hold back and reclaim land from the North Sea for over 2000 years. Over 2000 years ago, the Frisians who first settled the Netherlands began to build terpen, the first dikes to hold back the water.
In 1287 the terpen and dikes that held back the North Sea failed, and water flooded the country. A new bay, called Zuiderzee (South Sea) was created over former farmland. For the next few centuries, the Dutch worked to slowly push back the water of the Zuiderzee, building dikes and creating polders (the term used to described any piece of land reclaimed from water). Once dikes are built, canals and pumps are used to drain the land and to keep it dry. From the 1200s, windmills had been used to pump excess water off the fertile soil; today most of the windmills have been replaced with electricity- and diesel-driven pumps.
Then, storms and floods of 1916 provided the impetus for the Dutch to start a major project to reclaim the Zuiderzee. From 1927 to 1932, a 30.5 km (19 mile) long dike called Afsluitdijk (the Closing Dike) was built, turning the Zuiderzee into the IJsselmeer, a freshwater lake. (Much of the Netherlands is essentially a delta for the Rhine and other rivers.)
Further protective dikes and works were built, reclaiming the land of the IJsselmeer. The new land led to the creation of a the new province of Flevoland from what had been sea and water for centuries. The collective North Sea Protective Works is one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Today, approximately 27 percent of the Netherlands is actually below sea level. This area is home to over 60 percent of the country's population of 15.8 million people. The Netherlands, which is approximately the size of the U.S. states Connecticut and Massachusetts combined, has an approximate average elevation of 11 meters (36 feet). The Netherlands ties Lemmefjord, Denmark for claim to the lowest point in Western Europe - Prince Alexander Polder lies at 23 feet (7 meters) below sea level.
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Known as the Venice of the North, Bruges is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe.
It was a justified motive that prompted UNESCO in 2000 to include the entire historical city centre on the World Heritage list. Walking along the maze of winding cobbled alleys and romantic canals, you imagine yourself to be in medieval times. The wealth of museums is a striking image of this city's stirring history.
Bruges is also home to contemporary culture, such as the new Concert Hall, which is one of the most prominent music complexes in Flanders.
The restaurants in Bruges which offer gastronomic cuisine and the exclusive hotels are a true feast for those who enjoy the good things in life.
Tags: travel belgium architecture town europe cityscape city bruges medieval landmark brugge tourism old flanders history belgian tower building historic european famous view canal benelux flemish river water house sky street square tourist summer heritage gothic urban ancient belfort historical reflection destination church brick scenic belfry rozenhoedkaai sunset day unesco landscape hollandfotograaf
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In Explore, December 31, 2024
The seed heads in late fall and winter of faded flowers are often just as beautiful as the original flowers. The dried dead flowers contain the seeds with a kind of small umbrella to be spread by the wind.
The next generation of flowers cannot survive without them.
Birds and insects also eat the seeds to survive the winter.
De zaadhoofden in de late herfst en winter van verwelkte bloemen zijn vaak net zo mooi als de oorspronkelijke bloemen.
Het zijn gedroogde uitgebloeide bloemen die de zaden bevatten met een parapluutje om door de wind verspreid te worden
De volgende generatie bloemen kan niet zonder.
Vogels en insecten eten de zaden oom om de winter te overleven.
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All rights reserved. Copyright © Martien Uiterweerd. All my images are protected under international authors copyright laws and may not be downloaded, reproduced, copied, transmitted or manipulated without my written explicit permission.
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Tags: Sead head Zaadhoofd Flower Bloem Faded flower Uitgebloeide bloem Dried flower Gedroogde bloem Explore Explored
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This is Dordrecht's least tangible but perhaps most important monument. It is built entirely of Light, Air and Water. Here you experience the city on an island. In a grand gesture, the rivers Merwede, Noord and Oude Maas come together at the
Drierivierenpunt.
Poets, writers and painters came specially to this spot, and lost themselves in elation at the vast sight. They looked at a natural spectacle, praying for the famous Dutch light.
Foreign artists went in search of this dream scenery in the seventeenth-century city of the famous painter Aelbert Cuyp.
A very good 2025.
regard Jaap
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he city of Dordrecht, situated at a junction of rivers, played a key role in trade in the Middle-Ages. Dordrecht is a real monument city where Dordrecht facades, grand mansions, warehouses, churches and water towers dominate the cityscape. Like the City Hall, which was built in the 14th–century as a Flemish commodity exchange and where the city council took up residence in 1544. Or the Dordrecht Patrician mansion renamed Museum on the Maas where you can experience how a patrician household lived at the end of the 18th–century. The Grote Kerk is also worth a visit: the church’s completely in stone vaulted basilica is famous for its 16th-century choir stalls, carved in Renaissance style.
Typical of Dordrecht are also the many courtyards, including Vrouwenhof from 1755 around a courtyard with ancient trees and a well. Also notable is that Dordrecht has no canals, but ports. The charming port area, with its warehouses, merchants’ houses, quays and – more recently – pleasure craft stretches between Grote Kerk and Groothoofd. At Groothoofd you have – from one of the many terraces – stunning views over the busiest river crossroads of Europe.
Tags: europe dordrecht travel architecture netherlands city tourism building old holland water historic house european church landmark dutch town historical cityscape history canal river bridge view outdoor sky tourist beautiful tower street the netherlands facade urban south holland tree day blue landscape famous architectural roof great brick culture medieval no people square evening heritage
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