Johan's favorite photos

Vu depuis la grande roue installée à côté des arènes.

Wish you a happy Friday, and weekend:) stay safe and healthy.

Kasteel Wijlre (Wijlre Castle) was first officially mentioned when Holy Roman Emperor Henry III donated it to his niece. After that the castle was mentioned in 1389 as a fortified house and seat of the imperial immediacy of the Holy Roman Empire and was part of the Lower Rhenish-Westphalian Circle. The German eagle can be found in the coat of arms of Wijlre, which is the coat of arms of the “Van Wachtendonck” family, who resided in the castle in the 17th and 18th centuries as the lords of Wijlre until 1794. The present castle - an elongated rectangular building - was built by “Johan Arnold Van Wachtendonck” around 1652. The side facade of the main building has an eye-catching large sundial (PiP2). The last aristocratic inhabitant of Wijlre Castle was the baroness and lady of Wijlre, “Christina de Bounam”. After her Kasteel Wijlre had several owners, until it was bought for habitation in 1981 by art collectors “Jo and Marlies van Eyck”. In the garden and in a pavilion (Hedge House) built in 2001, a large collection of modern art is exhibited. In 2014, the garden won the “European Garden Award”, making it one of the continent's most renowned nice outdoor spaces.

From a beach walk yesterday. Wish you a serene Sunday.

Het Gooi (also named ’t Gooi or Gooiland ) is an area centred on the spur of the Utrechtse Heuvelrug (Utrecht Hill Ridge). It has a highest point with the Tafelberg (36,4 meters above sea level). But nature and landscape are completely different from the surrounding countryside, which is flat and lies below sea level. Het Gooi was originally covered with woods and heath. Nowadays the landscape is still dominated by a dry, sandy ridge. Some of the woods and heath have survived. We were pleasantly surprised by the beauty of the landscape with an alternation of forests, small green meadows and especially the vast heathlands. All nature areas are managed by the Goois Natuurreservaat ( Gooi Nature Reserve Foundation). Het Gooi is not only known for its natural beauty, but also for the villas of its wealthy inhabitants. The area is well known as the home of the rich and famous !!

The history of Naarden goes back to the 10th century. In that time the town was not situated on its current location. After destruction the town was rebuild in 1350 on its current position on a high sand ridge that formed the only access to Amsterdam out of the east. Due to this strategic position, Naarden developed into one of the most important fortified towns in the Netherlands in the upcoming centuries. A fortified town differed from medieval cities with walls and solitaire forts; fortified towns combined the civil and military function and were situated on important strategic positions. For Naarden this function was the defence of Amsterdam, the country’s capital and economic centre. The current unique star shape of Naarden with double stone ramparts and moats dates back to the 17th century, when the fortifications were reinforced and updated to modern standards after the siege of 1673 by the French. Most of the fortifications that exist today date from this period. During the 19th century the fortifications were updated, resulting in the construction of many new bomb shelters and other army-related buildings like barracks. After the World War I the need for Naarden as a fortress was over. The army left and the city with its fortifications was turned into a monument and preserved just in time to prevent it from being demolished. The beautiful fortifications and the many military buildings are the silent witnesses of that glorious period and a perfectly preserved piece of Dutch defensive history.

Windmill De Duif (The Pigeon) was built in 1886 on the spot where a previous mill was burned down after a lightning strike. The mill - formerly called the Veelhorster molen was owned in the 17th century by the influential Feyth family from Elburg and was used for grinding grain from the beginning. It is an octagonal 'belt mill' (belt = a man made hill); the hill has a height of over 4 metres. The mill has been restored in 1963 and 1982. After this restoration, grain is milled again on a voluntary basis.

The first Kasteel Neerijnen (Castle Neerijnen) was probably built around 1350 and was originally called Klingelenburg . It was the first noble house in Neerijnen. The inhabitants of the castle carried the name “De Cock van Neerijnen”. The present castle was built around 1600 on the foundations of the older one. It was radically rebuilt in the 18th century and was extended in the late 19th century. Together with the Kasteel Waardenburg (PiP4) built in 1265, it forms one estate. From 1700 onwards both castles have always had the same owners. After the “De Cock” family, the estate was owned by various noble families. At the end of 1827, the estate came into the hands of “Frederik Willem Floris Theodorus baron van Pallandt”. This family owned the estate until 1971. On May 6 of that year the last baroness of “Pallandt van Neerijnen en Waardenburg” died. Three years later the estate came into the hands of the Stichting Gelders Landschap & Kasteelen , a foundation for the protection of nature and landscape in the province of Gelderland. From 1980 to 2019, Kasteel Neerijnen was in use as the town hall of the former municipality of Neerijnen. The castle garden - situated between the castle and the reformed church of Neerijnen - had been seriously neglected for a long time. Since 1996 this garden has been renovated and maintained by volunteers, taking into account the original layout. The garden consists of several parts, including a herb garden, vegetable garden, flower garden and a rose garden.

Before the year of 1780 there was a post mill on the site of this mill. That mill had been blown over and repaired, but in the year 1780 it was demolished and replaced by the present hexagonal mill. The Molen van Waardenburg is one of the eight remaining hexagonal mills in the Netherlands. For many years the mill belonged to the Waardenburg-Neerijnen estate. In the First World War, the windmill was used to generate electricity. After the high water levels in the river Waal in 1995, the dike of the river was made heavier and raised, after which the mill was also raised by one and a half meters. Because of its location, the corn mill is considered being one of the more beautiful mills in the Netherlands. Since 2009 the mill is owned by Stichting Geldersch Landschap & Kasteelen , a foundation for the protection of nature and landscape in the province of Gelderland. The mill is still regularly used for grinding grain by volunteers.