Saturday, December 6

The village with no roads

Giethoorn is a beautiful village in the Netherlands. It is also known as “ Venice of Netherlands. It is also known as “Small Venice of the North”. In this village we can not find single  car as there are no roads. All the houses are  lined up along the canals and the preferred method of transport is punting there are 4 miles of canals and farmhouses with thatched roofs dating back to the 18th century.
History
The history of this village is around 1200 when Franciscan monks settled in the area. In the marsh lands peat was formed and when the settlers started to use the peat, canals were dug for transport. Big areas became lakes, many of them not deeper than 1 – 1.2 meters. Giethoorn was a separate municipality until 1973 when it became part of Brederwiede. There’s a story about how all the lakes came to be as well. The story begun when the huge and big flood disaster destroy this town. After this flood first inhabitants found masses of horns of wild goats, which had probably died in 1770 during the flood.
Location
Giethoorn is located at      the edge of a national park, a beautiful area. The tiny Dutch village of Giethoorn right in the middle of the De Wieden nature reserve is fondly known as the Venice of Netherlands. It is quite an apt name for the place since it has distinct features that are reminiscent of the romantic Italian city. Giethoorn village is home to less than 3000 people. Most of them live on their private islands as the city consists of minute areas of land beautifully surrounded by water. The 180 bridges are the only wayto reach many houses other than the boats.
Attractions
Most of us are familiar with the scenic beauty of Venice also known as the ‘Queen of the Seas’. In which the various islands are interconnected through water transportation. There is almost an identical place in Netherlands called Giethoorn in the province of Overijssel which like Venice is an idyllic place connected through canals having practically no roads. The Victorian style houses and cottages located on private islands and the 180 old wooden bridges that serve as links to houses appear as if out of a storybook. Since water transportation is the only way to move about you can indulge in a sightseeing boating trip or perhaps even be a little adventurous by hiring a ‘whisper boat’ or punter to roam around by yourself. Many houses are as it were built on little islands, reached through a high bridge. All this imparts to  Giethoorn  a beauty unequalled anywhere else.

In winter Giethoorn is  a very popular destination for ice skaters. The little reed covered farm houses  and beautiful gardens and also canals, in the center is not a road but a canal where you have to travel by boat. The canals the uncountable characteristic wooden arch bridges and have given Giethoorn the nickname the Venice of Netherlands. The travelers who adventure here are usually mesmerized by the familiar atmosphere bohemians canals small wooden bridges vivid flowers and colorful 200 year old homes. Canal tours are popular with the many tourists.