Makkum-Witmarsum | Section 10 of the Klooster Claercamppad pilgrimage trail
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Section 10 of the Klooster Claercamppad pilgrimage trail takes you from the coastal village of Makkum, along the shore of Lake IJsselmeer and the Wadden Sea and past an old ring dike near Pingjum to Witmarsum.
At Makkum you climb up onto the Zuiderzee dike and head north along the shore of Lake IJsselmeer to the little village of Zurich. Several church towers can be seen in the low-lying landscape on your right. In the past, the clay soil here was dug out and baked into bricks and tiles. The monks showed the people of the Northern Netherlands how to build kilns in the fields.
You walk under the highway …
Make it easy to navigate. Download the route in Google Maps!
Section 10 of the Klooster Claercamppad pilgrimage trail takes you from the coastal village of Makkum, along the shore of Lake IJsselmeer and the Wadden Sea and past an old ring dike near Pingjum to Witmarsum.
At Makkum you climb up onto the Zuiderzee dike and head north along the shore of Lake IJsselmeer to the little village of Zurich. Several church towers can be seen in the low-lying landscape on your right. In the past, the clay soil here was dug out and baked into bricks and tiles. The monks showed the people of the Northern Netherlands how to build kilns in the fields.
You walk under the highway that leads motorists to the Afsluitdijk and end up back at the familiar Wadden Sea coast. Here you turn eastward again and make your way to the dike known as Pingjumer Gulden Halsband, the Gold Collar of Pingjum.
This old ring dike that is so beautifully named surrounds the village of Pingjum and is still virtually intact. It is possible to walk along it. From this vantage point, you look out over the long clay fields used to grow potatoes and beets.
The Vinea Domini Monastery, which once stood northwest of Pingjum, owned ten farms and 300 hectares of land. To protect their farmland and mound villages from the sea, the monks and the people of Zurich, Pingjum, Witmarsum, Arum and Kimswerd, hauled no fewer than three million stretchers of soil to build a 20-kilometre dike. An incredible achievement!
Witmarsum was the birthplace of the influential Anabaptist religious leader, Menno Simons. There is a charming little district around the Dutch Reformed Koepelkerk church with a bridge, a warehouse and a rectory. There is also still an Anabaptist church in the village.
This route is part of the Klooster Claercamppad pilgrimage trail.
Sights on this route
Starting point
Markt 31
8754 CM Makkum
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Makkum
Makkum is a seaside resort on the IJsselmeer coast in Southwest Friesland, just south of the Afsluitdijk.
Van Doniakerk Makkum
De Van Doniakerk staat wat afzijdig aan de noordrand van Makkum, bovenop de duizend jaar oude Sint Maartensterp. Ooit was deze terp het middelpunt van het Friese Zuiderzeedorp.
Cornwerdermolen
This mill was built in 1907 by firm J.H. Westra from Franeker to drain the polder, 318 ha, the water board 'Cornwerd' in the same year by Messrs TH Rinia, R. Zwaagstra and T.P. Postma. A second mill on the canal near Wons milk was demolished in 1925....
Slaperdijk Willem Loré
De Zuricher Slaperdijk is een kort dijktracé dat in 1753 aangelegd werd achter het bedreigde Zuricheroord.
Wadden Sea near Zurich - UNESCO World Heritage Site
The stretch of Wadden Sea that faces the little village of Zurich nestled at the foot of the dike is the largest UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Netherlands. Twice a day the tide laps against the dike and twice a day it goes a long way out.
Wadden Sea near Zurich - UNESCO World Heritage Site
Wadden Sea near Zurich - UNESCO World Heritage Site
UNESCO Werelderfgoed de Waddenzee bij Zurich
Caspar de Roblesdijk 1
8751 TH Zurich
Dorpskerk Zurich
De Dorpskerk van Zurich is een vrij zeldzame kerk, omdat er in Friesland weinig kerken in neorenaissance stijl gebouwd zijn. Deze jonge kerk werd pas gebouwd in 1864, op de plek waar daarvoor een andere kerk had gestaan.
Pingjumer Gulden Halsband inner dike
The Pingjumer Gulden Halsband is an inner dike that once protected the village of Pingjum from the waters of the Marne, an inlet of the Wadden Sea.
Pingjumer Gulden Halsband inner dike
Pingjumer Gulden Halsband inner dike
Pingjumerstraat
8748 BN Witmarsum
Witmarsum
Witmarsum is a cozy village northwest of the Eleven Cities town of Bolsward.
Doopsgezinde kerk Witmarsum
Het kerkgebouw in Witmarsum is in 1961 gebouwd, Het is een eenvoudig gebouw, maar de geschiedenis maakt de plek bijzonder. Menno Simons, vaak Nederlands enige kerkhervormer genoemd, werd geboren in Witmarsum.
End point
Kerkplein 1
8748 BP Witmarsum
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