[NETHERLANDS] Charming Village of Marken

11:40 Travel Bunny 0 Comments

Marken is a charming fishing village in the Waterland, known for its characteristic green wooden houses. Marken was an island, separated from the mainland by a storm in the 13th century. It was not until 1959 that a dike was built, connecting Marken with the mainland and it became a peninsular.

Getting there:

From Volendam, you can take the Marken Express (boat) which will reach Marken directly or...

...take bus 110, 118 or 316 to Broke in Waterland and change to bus 311 to reach Marken.

Beatrix Brug is a bridge which is named after former Queen Beatrix of Netherlands. Visitors must cross this bridge to reach the village of Marken.

The houses here tend to built on pilings to keep them high and dry.

But nowadays, the poles of the houses have now been closed to form under-house.

Frequent flooding and tides forced the inhabitants to build their houses on man-made mounds called werfs until the 17th century.

The waterfront harbour of Marken is mainly lined with restaurants and shops.

You can also find kibbeling sold here at the stalls.

The picturesque houses of Marken made it a tourist attraction.

The harbour of Marken was constructed in the 19th century. The people of Marken mainly lived from fishing until the closing of Zuider-sea. Until 1959, Marken can only be reached by water.

Walking around Marken is quite relaxing as it is not as touristy and crowded as Volendam.

This was how high the water level was back in flood of 1916. Some wooden house of the island were completely tumbled over.

Although there were no victims during the big flood of 1916, the material damage was huge. Most of the houses damaged during the flood were rebuilt in the same year.