Giethoorn

Giethoorn (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɣitɦoːrn]) is a town in the province of Overijssel, Netherlands with a population of 2,620. It is located in the municipality of Steenwijkerland, about 5 km southwest of Steenwijk. As a popular Dutch tourist destination both within Netherlands and abroad, Giethoorn is often referred to as "Dutch Venice" (Dutch: Hollands Venetië) or the "Venice of the Netherlands".

Giethoorn
Town
The village in 2014
Flag
Coat of arms
Nicknames: 
Venice of the North[1]
Venice of the Netherlands[2]
Giethoorn
Location in Overijssel
Coordinates: 52°44′20″N 6°4′41″E
CountryNetherlands
Province Overijssel
MunicipalitySteenwijkerland
Population
 • Total2,620
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)

History

Giethoorn used to be a pedestrian precinct, but nowadays exceptions are made. It became locally famous, especially after 1958, when the Dutch film maker Bert Haanstra made his famous comedy Fanfare there. In the old part of the village, there were no roads (though a cycling path was eventually added), and all transport was done by water over one of the many canals. The lakes in Giethoorn were formed by peat unearthing.

Giethoorn was a separate municipality until 1973, when it became part of Brederwiede, which lost its municipality status in 2001 to merge with Steenwijk.[3]

Tourism

Tourism has an influence on the old traditional town. The village, still only fully accessible by boat, is one of several places commonly known as the Venice of the North[4] or Venice of the Netherlands.[5] Giethoorn has over 150 bridges.[6]

  • The village in 1946
  • The village in 1955
  • The village in 2014

Monopoly edition

In 2015, the village of Giethoorn fended off competition from some 182 contenders across the world to achieve a place on the board of the new international edition of Monopoly.[1] An online campaign led by local Village Marketeer Giethoorn.com resulted in enough votes to obtain spot number 21 on the special edition.

References
  1. Dutch News article (in English): "Dutch village of Giethoorn wins place on new international Monopoly set".
  2. Giethoorn, DailyMail.
  3. Ad van der Meer and Onno Boonstra, Repertorium van Nederlandse gemeenten, KNAW, 2011.
  4. "Giethoorn travel guide". Retrieved 2019-03-25.
  5. "Photos from Giethoorn, Venice of the Netherlands". Archived from the original on 2008-04-23. Retrieved 2008-06-20.
  6. "Holland.com Giethoorn guide". Retrieved 2014-02-11.
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