Giethoorn — The Dutch Village With No Roads
Can you imagine a village with no roads? There is such a place in the
Netherlands called Giethoorn (pronounced 'geethorn'). There are no roads
and cars have to remain outside the village. The only access to the
stunningly lovely houses in Giethoorn is by water, or on foot over tiny
individual wooden bridges.
Giethoorn is located about 5km southwest of Steenwijck in Holland and
became famous - especially after the 1958 Dutch film "Fanfare", made by
Bert Haanstra, was set there. Giethoorn is now an internationally known
tourist attraction in the Netherlands. 20 more images after the break...
Giethoorn is called the Venice of the Netherlands because about 7.5km of
canals run through the little village. Some 50 little wooden bridges
span the canals. It was founded in around 1230 and originally called
Geytenhorn, which over time has become Giethoorn.
All traffic has to go over the water, and it is done in so-called
“punters”, called ‘whisper-boats’ as they are driven by an electric
motor, so they barely disturb the peace and quiet in this scenic little
village.
The canals are only about 1m deep and were dug out to transport peat,
the digging of which resulted in many ponds and shallow lakes, called
‘Wieden’. Many houses have been built on islands and are only reachable
over wooden bridges.
Most houses have thatched roofs, the marshy areas providing a lot of
reed. In former days only rich people had tiled roofs, for tiles were
much more expensive than reed, but now it’s the other way round. Having a
thatched roof costs a lot more money than having it covered with
tiles.
The unique look of this village of 2,620 people has to do with early
peat mining in the area. Little did they know that what they built out
of necessity would eventually become a world renowned tourist
destination. This is a very picturesque place to visit, harking back to
an earlier time in history when everything was done at a much more
gentle pace. Just soaking up the peaceful atmosphere is therapeutic. You
really should pay the place a visit.