Giethoorn

Village

Canals of Giethoorn in 2014

Coat of arms

Nickname(s): Venice of the North
Venice of the Netherlands

Giethoorn

Location in the province of Overijssel in the Netherlands

Coordinates: 52°44′20″N 6°4′41″E / 52.73889°N 6.07806°ECoordinates: 52°44′20″N 6°4′41″E / 52.73889°N 6.07806°E

Country

Netherlands

Province

Overijssel

Municipality

Steenwijkerland

Population

• Total

2,620

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

• Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

Giethoorn (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɣitɦoːrn]) is a village in the Dutch province of Overijssel. It is located in the municipality of Steenwijkerland, about 5 km southwest of Steenwijk. Giethoorn is often referred to as 'Little Venice'.

Giethoorn used to be a pedestrian precinct, but nowadays exceptions are made. It became locally famous, especially after 1958, when the Dutch film maker Bert Haanstra made his famous comedy Fanfare there. In the old part of the village, there were no roads (though a cycling path was eventually added), and all transport was done by water over one of the many canals. The lakes in Giethoorn were formed by peat unearthing.

Giethoorn was a separate municipality until 1973, when it became part of Brederwiede.

Tourism has had a relatively small influence on the old traditional town. The village, still only fully accessible by boat, is one of several places commonly known as the Venice of the North or Venice of the Netherlands. Giethoorn has over 180 bridges.

Giethoorn is a very popular attraction among Chinese tourists. The village of only 2620 inhabitants sees between 150,000 and 200,000 Chinese tourists every year.

The village of Giethoorn fended off competition from some 182 contenders across the world to achieve a place on the board of the new international edition of Monopoly (the locals are very proud of this achievement). An online campaign led by local Village Marketeer Giethoorn.com resulted in enough votes to obtain spot number 21 on the special edition.

Canals in Giethoorn

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Wikipedia