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Wijk bij Duurstede is a municipality and a city in the central Netherlands.
[edit] Population centres
[edit] The city of Wijk bij Duurstede
The city (population as of 2007: 23,377) is located on the Rhine. At Wijk bij Duurstede, the Kromme Rijn (Crooked Rhine) branches off, and the main branch is called Lek River downstream from Wijk bij Duurstede.
The name 'Wijk bij Duurstede' means 'neighbourhood near Duurstede'. Duurstede is the name of the nearby castle/ruin, where the bishop of Utrecht used to live. Wijk bij Duurstede is located at the place where Dorestad used to be, an important trade settlement, that was pillaged around 850 by the Vikings.
In Wijk bij Duurstede is the only drive-through mill in the world. The mill is often confused with the mill that was made famous by Ruysdael's 1670 painting. That mill however does no longer exist (its foundation can still be seen a couple of blocks away of the remaining mill). A big church tower is situated at the main street of the city. As one of the few in the Netherlands, this tower has a flat roof, because the bishop couldn't afford to make a high roof.
Wijk bij Duurstede received city rights in 1300.
[edit] External link
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