Nicolas Church in Oldenzijl

The beautiful Nicolas Church at the edge of  the village of Oldenzijl is partly Roman and partly Early Gothic, and was built in the 13th century. The original -separately standing- church tower was taken down in 1829. It's a protestant church now.

This photo shows that the church is standing on a 'terp', an artificial mound that provides safe ground during storms, high tides and sea or river flooding. In this region of the Netherlands a terp is called "wierde".

I will show you a view inside the church in tomorrow's post.

Nationaal Ereveld Loenen

The "Nationaal Ereveld Loenen" ("Loenen National War Cemetery") commemorates all people from the Netherlands who died during wartime as a result of war operations. The cemetery was opened in 1949 by princess Wilhelmina. Almost 4,000 Dutch war victims are buried here.

Each grave has a lying square white tombstone. The graves are in rows along paths that meander through a wooded area of 17 hectares.
We visited the cemetery on an early morning earlier this month. A very peaceful place.

Borgund Stave Church

From our cabin in Kaupanger -in west Norway, at the end of the Sognefjord- we visited the Borgund Stave Church. This church was built sometime between 1180 and 1250 AD with later additions and restorations. Its walls are formed by vertical wooden boards, or staves, hence the name "stave church".

Four carved dragon heads look over the overhanging roofs; they resemble dragon heads found on the prows of old Norwegian viking ships.

Old and new graves in the church cemetery.

Oterdum cemetery

Oterdum was a small village once in the north east of the province of Groningen, halfway the towns of Delfzijl and Termunten. 200 people lived here near the dike. Then in the 1970s all farms, houses, as well as the church and cemetery (only the grave stones, the bodies were left) had to move for a new higher dike that would protect the rest of the province against the sea. Oterdum was no more.

Years later the grave stones, all dating from the 19th century, were re-placed at their original spot at the new dike. Some of the bigger grave stones have beautiful drawings and remember of the old times in a small fisherman's village.
We were passing here today and I'm glad we stopped to have a closer look. It's a remarkable place.

From the archives #58

Sweden (2012)

The village of Ekshärad in the Swedish Värmland county is not only well known for its red wooden 17th century church, but also for the cemetery with its more than 300 graceful and imaginative iron crosses. These crosses were forged locally and have small 'leaves' that sway gently in the wind.

Ameland horse grave

"Op 14 augustus 1979 strandde de Windspiel 4 / bij de lancering van de reddingboot verdronken 8 paarden"
"On August 14, 1979, the Windspiel 4 stranded / during the launch of the lifeboat 8 horses drowned"


Until the late 1980's the Ameland lifeboat was launched with the use of horses. On August 14, 1979, a launch went terribly wrong and 8 horses died. Their grave, pictured here in the dunes near Hollum, is a well known spot on the island.

Hunebed DXXVI

Hunebed 'D26' ligt bij Drouwenerveld, vlakbij Borger, en is één van 52 exemplaren in Drente. Hunebedden werden ooit gebruikt als grafkamers en de meeste dateren uit ongeveer 4000 vC. Ze bestaan uit staande draagstenen die een soort rechthoekige kamer vormen, overdekt met dekstenen. De ingang was aan één van de lange kanten.

Hunebed 'D26' is located in Drouwenerveld, near Borger, and is one of 52 hunebedden or chamber tombs in the province of Drente. Most date from about 4000BC. They consist of a kerb surrounding an oval mound, which covered a rectangular chamber of stones with the entrance on one of the long sides.

De restanten van een groot aantal potten die hier gevonden zijn tijdens archeologisch onderzoek door de Universiteit van Amsterdam in de jaren 1960, zijn te zien in het Hunebedcentrum in Borger.

The remains of a large number of pots that were found here during archeological research by the Amsterdam University in the 1960's, can be viewed in the Hunebed Centre in Borger.