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Thursday, 16 May 2019

[NETHERLANDS] Charming Village of Marken


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


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


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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.


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


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


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


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


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You can also find kibbeling sold here at the stalls.


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The picturesque houses of Marken made it a tourist attraction.


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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.


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


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


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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.


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Marken is quite a charming village. And it marked the end of my lovely day trip to the Waterlands.

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