Zeerijp

Zeerijp
Village
Zeerijp in 2012
Zeerijp Location of Zeerijp in the province of Groningen
Coordinates: 53°20′53″N 6°45′42″E / 53.34806°N 6.76167°E / 53.34806; 6.76167Coordinates: 53°20′53″N 6°45′42″E / 53.34806°N 6.76167°E / 53.34806; 6.76167
Country	Netherlands
Province	Groningen
Municipality	Loppersum
Population (2008)	440

Zeerijp (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈzeːrɛip]) is a village north of city of Groningen. Its most striking building is its medieval brick church with detached bell tower. Formerly dedicated to John the Baptist, now it is a Dutch Reformed church. Also there is a famous organ inside the church, a Faber organ. Because there are so few inhabitants, Zeerijp has no shops, but there is a primary school 'De Wilgenstee' and a cafe. Also, there is a famous mill, 'de Leeuw'. There is also a gold and silver smith, Van Hulsen.

Zeerijp's most recently made the headlines when an earthquake struck the village in January 2007. Earthquakes are extremely rare in the Netherlands; this one, measuring 2.3 on the Richter magnitude scale, was a result of drilling for natural gas.