De Frije Wiken
Gorredijk
De Frije Wiken is a beautiful part of southeast Friesland. It is made up of 14 villages and towns that lie at the heart of southeast Friesland. There was extreme poverty here in the past but today the land is richly endowed with scenic beauty.
De Frije Wiken is a beautiful part of southeast Friesland. It is made up of 14 villages and towns that lie at the heart of southeast Friesland. There was extreme poverty here in the past but today the land is richly endowed with scenic beauty.
In his novel Volk zonder uren [People without hours] written in 1949, Evert Zandstra described the harsh and poverty-stricken circumstances of the villagers who lived here in around 1868 as the demand for peat dwindled. So this part of Friesland is also known as ‘the land of the people without hours’.
This largely undiscovered area with its unique network of neighbourhoods sits concealed between the Turf Boating Route and better known tourist attractions.
The tranquil landscape is crisscrossed by waterways and district canals that were built to transport the turf. After the peat had been mined, bit by bit the land was converted to farmland and used to grow crops. But the farming was done on a small scale and developed gradually so the land was able to recover.
The 14 villages and towns that together form De Frije Wiken are Bontebok, Oudehorne, Nieuwehorne, Jubbega, Hoornsterzwaag, Katlijk, De Knipe, Oldeberkoop, Mildam, Gorredijk, Hemrik, Lippenhuizen, Langezwaag and Jonkerslân.
Gorredijk is the charming principal town in the area and has several beautiful listed buildings and protected monuments. Museum Opsterland, the local museum, is in the middle of the town in a building that was originally built as a primary school in 1887.
- Distance to your location:
In the neighbourhood
-
Het Andere Friesland: Jubbega-Hoornsterzwaag-Oranjewoud
Het Andere Friesland: Jubbega-Hoornsterzwaag-Oranjewoud(55.7 km)Jubbega -
Fietsroute uitkijktorens Zuidoost Friesland
Fietsroute uitkijktorens Zuidoost Friesland(100.0 km)Ravenswoud
Locations
View all locations-
Bolwerk Bolsward
Bolwerk BolswardIn de 16e eeuw was Bolsward voorzien van verdedigingswerken met grachten en wallen. Maar omdat vanuit de regering stedelijke verdedigingswerken werden afgeschaft, werden de wallen afgegraven. Het Hoog Bolwerk is bewaard gebleven.
Bolsward -
Hegebeintum
HegebeintumHet landschap langs de Friese kust heeft een bijzonder kenmerk: de terp. Terpen zijn opgeworpen woonheuvels, die bescherming moesten bieden tegen het opkomende zeewater.
Hegebeintum -
War Memorial Hieslum
War Memorial HieslumOn the evening of 13 May 1945, a heavily loaded Lancaster bomber took off from Bardney airfield to bomb the Skoda factory in Pilsen. The aircraft was intercepted by a German night fighter in the airspace of the province of Friesland and exploded.
Hieslum -
Monument Peter Tazelaar
Monument Peter TazelaarDuring the Second World War, Peter Tazelaar played an important role in the resistance as an England sailor, spy and adjutant. His character was the model for James Bond, the world-famous creation of the English writer Ian Fleming.
Hindeloopen -
Willibrordusdobbe
WillibrordusdobbeVlak boven het dorpje Nes op Ameland ligt een voormalige heilige bron van de heidense Friezen. In het oude Friesland werden bronnen als sacrale krachtplaatsen beschouwd.
Nes -
Oudebildtdijk Dike
Oudebildtdijk DikeThe Oudebildtdijk or ‘Old Bildt dike’, is a historic dike that runs along the Wadden Sea coast of northwest Friesland. This remarkable dike with its traditional dike houses and substantial farmhouses is the longest road in the Netherlands.
Oudebildtdijk -
Little water level house (Peilschaalhuisje) at Hindeloopen
Little water level house (Peilschaalhuisje) at HindeloopenThe little water level house at Hindeloopen looks as if it has always been there. But it was gone for several decades. In 2016, a replica of the little water level house was rebuilt on the original foundations.
Hindeloopen -
Uitkijkpunt Terpentoer
Uitkijkpunt TerpentoerUitkijktoren van cortenstaal, die op dezelfde hoogte staat, als de inmiddels afgegraven terp van Wijnaldum.
Wijnaldum -
Boulder in Rottum
Boulder in RottumThe largest boulder in Friesland lies near the little village of Rottum in Southwest Friesland. It was deposited by glacier ice that advanced from the Uppland region of Sweden during the Saale Ice Age 200,000 years ago.
Rottum