Flevoland is the youngest province in the country
Flevoland is the youngest province in the Netherlands. The province was officially named as a province in 1986. Nevertheless, Flevoland is connected to a large piece of history, namely the containment of the Zuiderzee, which is now the IJsselmeer. The Zuiderzee was known for its rough weather and treacherous seas.
On January 14, 1914, a flying storm hit the Zuiderzee and in particular a large part of North Holland. A large number of dikes threatened to collapse, as a result of which Amsterdam came under great threat from the water of the Zuiderzee. Large areas were white but the dikes around our capital persisted.
To prevent a recurrence, it was then thought that a dyke had to be created between the Zuiderzee and the Wadden Sea. This idea came from the Amsterdam engineer Cornelis Lely. That dyke was built and we now know it as the Afsluitdijk.
The Afsluitdijk keeps the Wadden Sea out and immediately ensures that the Zuiderzee slowly changes into fresh water. We now know this water as the IJsselmeer.
Already in 1886 there was talk of draining the Zuiderzee or the IJsselmeer. Drying out would yield land that could be used for agriculture and animal husbandry. In 1918, it was decided to drain the land under the Zuiderzee Act. Two years later, the first start was made with the reclamation and dikes were built around the area.
The water that remained within the dikes had to be drained away, so pumping stations were built everywhere along the dikes that gave the water back to the IJsselmeer. When the water was gone it also had to stay away and the pumping stations were given a permanent function for pumping the polders. Initially, the construction of the Noordoostpolder was started and later two polders followed, namely Eastern Flevoland and Southern Flevoland.
Lelystad
Flevoland is still seen as an empty province without history. Yet it has been found that there must have been some form of habitation in this area thousands of years ago. The capital owes its name to the man who once made the idea of land reclamation negotiable, Cornelis Lely, who gave his name to the city of Lelystad. Lelystad is the largest municipality in the Netherlands in area.
In addition, Lelystad has the honor to call itself the city with the country’s largest back garden in the form of forests and nature reserves. Lelystad is a very interesting city especially for nature and culture lovers. Near the city lie and Oostvaardersplassen, a nature area where nature really is left to nature. In addition, you can view a replica of an old VOC ship on the Batavia ship in Lelystad.
Almere
Anyone who walks around in Almere will soon discover that Almere is a kind of extension of Amsterdam. You will often hear the Amsterdam accent walking around you on the street. Almere was also founded with the idea of being an overflow for the people of Amsterdam. Almere harbor is the oldest city center that takes its name from an inland sea that was a precursor to the IJsselmeer.
The name Almere is therefore derived from the name Aelmere which means as much as “big lake”. On November 30, 1976, the first residents of Almere Haven were the first to move into their new homes in a completely new city.
