Idea #597 – Visiting the oldest and smaller municipality of the Flevoland in the Netherlands
Urk, simple island of the lake of Almere, was mentioned for the first time in the Xth century. In the XIIIth century, the rise in the water level of the North Sea transformed the lake at sea internal, Zuiderzee, which took back its shape of origin in the XXth century after the construction of a dike. From 1939, Urk became a peninsula of Ijsselmeer, then, after the complete drying out of Noordoostpolder in 1942, a coastal city set in the North and in the East in the lands of this big polder. However, the local inhabitants always consider it as an island; we do not live in Urk, but on Urk. Urk possesses the biggest fleet of fishing of the Netherlands, and the port presents of magnificent boats, among which of numerous “botters”.
Urk remained a very closed community, profoundly anchored in the Protestant religion, situated in the sphere of influence of Bijbelgordel, the Dutch “belt of the Bible”. The local dialect, the Urkers, remained particularly alive.
Some Pictures
Where is it ?
Urk, Schokland, Netherlands
