Dutch polders - droogmakerijen - aerials

Droogmakerijen - Land reclamation - reclamation ground - landfill
The province of Noord-Holland consists mainly of polders, reclaimed land that lies beneath sea level.
In the Dutch Golden Age (17th century) the Dutch turned lakes into thousands of hectares of land by using wind energy.
Under supervision of Jan Adriaanszoon Leeghwater (architect, mill builder and hydraulic engineer) the Dutch started pumping the water out of the large lakes around Schermer Island. In 1612 the Beemster was one of the first lakes to be turned into dry land.
Today the reclaimed land lies approximately 3.5 metres below sea level.

The Beemster Polder is an exceptional example of reclaimed land in the Netherlands. It has preserved intact its well-ordered landscape of fields, roads, canals, dykes and settlements, laid out in accordance with classical and Renaissance planning principles.
The Beemster was placed on UNESCO's world heritage list as a unique example of seventeenth century landscape architecture.

© Broadcast format available at: http://www.stockshot.nl/ - Music title quasi motion by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) licensed under Creative Commons "Attribution 3.0"
All Rights reserved by Fauna Film B.V. © http://www.faunafilm.nl