Unesco in the Netherlands

An overview of the different places of Unesco in the Netherlands (World Heritage)

1. Schokland and surroundings – as described on the land of water page, Schokland used to be an island in the Zuiderzee. You can visit the very smal island, watch the video presentation before entering. The restaurant of Schokland has delicious Dutch apple pie!
2. Defense line of Amsterdam – This defence line was built between 1883 and 1920 to protect the city of Amsterdam. It is the only fortification that is based on the principle of controlling the waters around a city. It contains a network of 45 armed forts and can temporarily flood polders extending 135 kilometers around Amsterdam. Most of the forts can be visited. A unique fort is the Island of Pampus. Take the boat next to Amsterdam Castle for 30 minutes at the IJsselmeer and you will learn a lot about this defense line.
3. At Kinderdijk /Elshout you can find the 19 windmills who played an important role in keeping the water under control. Since 1950 all the windmills are out of order for this task, the electric pumps took over this job. All the windmills can still pump the water out if necessary as a back up plan.
4. The Wouda pumping station at Lemmer is at the UNESCO world heritage list since 1998. This station was opened in 1920 to control the water situation in Friesland.
5. Unesco Beemster – polder from the beginning of the 17th century. Divided by the classic renaissance squares of land it is an unique place with windmills you can visit. You can rent a boat to discover this area from the water. Make sure you visit the picturesque little village of Graft – de Rijp and the windmills of Schermerhorn.
6. Rietveld Schröder House in Utrecht was built in 1924 by the Dutch Architect Gerrit Rietveld. The house is one of the best known examples of De Stijl-architecture and arguably the only true De Stijl building. Mrs. Schröder lived in the house until her death in 1985. The house was restored by Bertus Mulder and now is a museum open for visits.
7. The Wadden Sea is an intertidal zone in the southeastern part of the North Sea. It lies between the coast of northwestern continental Europe and the range of Frisian Islands, forming a shallow body of water with tidal flats and wetlands. It is rich in biological diversity.
8. The Seventeenth-century canal ring area of Amsterdam inside the Singelgracht (including the Prinsengracht, Keizersgracht, Herengracht and Jordaan) were placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2010. Along the main canals over 1550 monumental buildings can be found.
9. Van Nelle Factory (Van Nellefabriek in Dutch), located on the Schie river in Rotterdam, is considered a prime example of the International Style. It has been a designated World Heritage Site since 2014. Soon after it was built, prominent architects described the factory as “the most beautiful spectacle of the modern age” (Le Corbusier in 1932).
10. Historic area Willemstad is the capital city of Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean Sea that forms a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The historic centre of the city consists of four quarters. Willemstad is home to the Curaçao synagogue, the oldest surviving synagogue in the Americas. The city centre, with its unique architecture and harbour entry, has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997.

Source: Tulips in Holland
Photo credits: NBTC Holland Marketing