Werelderfgoed de Beemster
Fancy living approximately 3.5 metres below sea level! This is probably what many foreigners think. The Dutch know better. In the 17th century, man conquered the water here and transformed the inland lake of ‘De Beemster’ into a beautiful polder landscape, conveniently organised in geometrical patterns of perfect quadrants. Later, characteristic ‘stolp’ farms (large, pyramid-shaped farmhouses, typical of the Dutch province of Noord-Holland) and historic villages dotted the landscape.