Vliedorp
Vliedorp is a vanished village on a mound. After disasters such as the Christmas flood of 1717, all that remains is the old cemetery and the story of a special place.
Vliedorp is now little more than some old gravestones and a few trees, but it was once a lively village with a rich history. It originated in the Middle Ages and a stone church arose around 1200, probably on the spot where a wooden church had previously stood. The name Vliedorp, meaning "refuge", sounds like a place where you should be safe, but that did not always turn out to be the case.
In 1717, disaster struck during the infamous Christmas flood. Thirty-two houses were destroyed and 48 people lost their lives, along with a staggering number of animals: 142 cows, 29 horses, 16 pigs and 194 sheep. However, the village had already been in decline for some time. In 1651, Vliedorp was merged with Houwerzijl for ecclesiastical purposes, and the last wedding took place there in 1694. A year later, the church was demolished, and by then the tower had already been moved to Houwerzijl.
After the ...
Vliedorp is now little more than some old gravestones and a few trees, but it was once a lively village with a rich history. It originated in the Middle Ages and a stone church arose around 1200, probably on the spot where a wooden church had previously stood. The name Vliedorp, meaning "refuge", sounds like a place where you should be safe, but that did not always turn out to be the case.
In 1717, disaster struck during the infamous Christmas flood. Thirty-two houses were destroyed and 48 people lost their lives, along with a staggering number of animals: 142 cows, 29 horses, 16 pigs and 194 sheep. However, the village had already been in decline for some time. In 1651, Vliedorp was merged with Houwerzijl for ecclesiastical purposes, and the last wedding took place there in 1694. A year later, the church was demolished, and by then the tower had already been moved to Houwerzijl.
After the Christmas flood, the last residents left the village. By 1750, all the houses had gone, and even the ‘weem’ – a vicarage farm – was demolished after 1800. The cemetery, however, remained in use for a long time. Well into the twentieth century, funeral processions from Houwerzijl would carry the deceased across the water to the abandoned mound.