Schokland

Coordinates: 52°38′03″N 5°46′40″E / 52.634183°N 5.777875°E / 52.634183; 5.777875

UNESCO World Heritage Site
Schokland and Surroundings
Name as inscribed on the World Heritage List
The elevation of the former island is clearly visible
Type	Cultural
Criteria	iii, v
Reference	739
UNESCO region	Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription	1995 (19th Session)

Map of Schokland, June 2015

Schokland (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈsxɔklɑnt]) is a former island in the Dutch Zuiderzee, in the municipality of Noordoostpolder. Schokland was an elongated strip of peat land which ceased to be an island when the Noordoostpolder was reclaimed from the sea in 1942. It is now just a slightly elevated part of the polder, with a still partly intact retaining wall of the waterfront of Middelbuurt. On 1 April 2014, it had 8 inhabitants,^[1] but according to Statistics Netherlands there are five people living on the former island.

Schokland was an attractive settlement area in the Middle Ages, but by the 19th century it was under continuous threat of flooding due to the rise in sea level. By then the Schoklanders had retreated to the three most elevated parts: Emmeloord, Molenbuurt, and Middelbuurt. A major flood in 1825 brought massive destruction, and in 1859 the government decided to end permanent settlement on Schokland. The former municipality of Schokland was joined to Kampen on the mainland.

Today Schokland is a popular archeological site and host to the Schokland Museum. Schokland was the first UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Netherlands.

Public transportation

The nearest railway stations are in Kampen and Lelystad.

Bus service 682 operates from Kampen and serves Schokland.

Church of Schokland
Church with sea wall
Church
Glacial erratic. The label on the left stone shows the Dutch for "Stones from Norway".
Church ruins

References

↑ (Dutch) Feiten en cijfers, Municipality of Noordoostpolder

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Schokland.

Populated places in the municipality of Noordoostpolder

Cities/towns	Emmeloord

Villages	Bant Creil Ens Espel Kraggenburg Luttelgeest Marknesse Nagele Rutten Schokland Tollebeek

List of cities, towns and villages in Flevoland

World Heritage Sites in the Netherlands

North	D.F. Wouda Steam Pumping Station Wadden Sea¹

East	Schokland and Surroundings

West	Beemster Polder Canals of Amsterdam Defence Line of Amsterdam Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout Rietveld Schröder House Van Nelle Factory Wadden Sea¹

Curaçao	Historic Area of Willemstad

¹ Shared locally with other region/s and with Germany and Denmark

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, February 28, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.