| Venray | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| — Municipality — | |||
| Venray main shoppingstreet "Grotestraat" | |||
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| Coordinates: | |||
| Country | Netherlands | ||
| Province | Limburg | ||
| Area(2006) | |||
| • Total | 146.36 km2 (56.5 sq mi) | ||
| • Land | 145.70 km2 (56.3 sq mi) | ||
| • Water | 0.66 km2 (0.3 sq mi) | ||
| Population (1 January 2007) | |||
| • Total | 39,078 | ||
| • Density | 268/km2 (694.1/sq mi) | ||
| Source: CBS, Statline. | |||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
Venray (old Dutch spelling: Venraij) () (Limburgish: Venroj) is a municipality and a town in Limburg, Netherlands, 115 kilometers southeast of Amsterdam. Venray has about 43,000 inhabitants.
Contents |
Blitterswijck, Castenray, Geijsteren, Heide, Leunen, Merselo, Oirlo, Oostrum, Smakt, Venray, Veulen, Vredepeel, Wanssum and Ysselsteyn
In 1905, the Sint Servatius mental hospital for males was built by the Brothers of Charity. The first patients arrived in 1907. In 1906, the Sint Anna mental hospital for women was built by the Sisters of Charity of Jesus and Mary. The first patients arrived in 1909. In 1969, management of the mental hospitals was transferred to two separate foundations. Both mental hospitals have had a big impact on Venray from cultural, religious and employment perspectives that lasts up to today. Nowadays, both mental hospitals are managed by GGZ Noord- en Midden-Limburg.
Venray also hosts one of 12 mental hospitals in the Netherlands, De Rooyse Wissel, that house people assigned to mental treatment as a measure by the courts.
The St. Peter ad Vincula church in Venray hosts one of the largest late medieval collections of wooden sculptures that survived the iconoclasm of the protestant reformation in the Netherlands. The church itself was originally built in the 15th century in the gothic style. It was rebuilt after extensive damage following the World War II Battle of Overloon.
Ysselsteyn hosts the only German war cemetery in the Netherlands, administered by the German War Graves Commission. Venray also hosts a Commonwealth War Grave.
In recent decades Venray has made a transition from a manufacturing base to a third-party logistics base. As a consequence many warehouses have been built on industrial estates in recent years.
Small and medium enterprises and mental healthcare also continue to play an important role in the local economy. Venray also provides logistics through its Meuse river harbor in Wanssum and A73 motorway.
The western section of Venray, the villages Vredepeel and Ysselsteyn, was reclaimed from the Peel peat bogs in the early 20th century. Parts of the peat bogs remain and have been transferred to a national park. The western section of Venray is also straddled by part of the Peel-Raam Line, defensive works consisting out of a canal and bunkers dating to the World War II period.
Venray, near Geijsteren, also has a forest and sand dune area, that is one of the few locations in the Netherlands that is home to common juniper.