Culemborg-Beesd-Leerdam-Culemborg

Culemborg, Gelderland, The Netherlands

Cycling route: 117374

based on 13 reviews

Provided by: Waterlinies 2015

38.0 km
02:14 h
669 kcal
6 m

Description

Take a tour of the Culembor area. It was once a small trading town on the river Meer. It was located on the southern levee of the river Lek. In the fourteenth century, a city wall was placed around the town to keep out scum and part of the old wall can still be seen. It is the oldest piece of surviving city wall in the Netherlands. When you hear the bell ringing at 9:55 pm, know that this is an age-old custom to indicate that city gates would close five minutes later. In the past, the ringing of the bell was a sign for many people who worked on the land to go home and eat a plate of hot porridge. The town is therefore called Papklokkendam with carnival. Cities were often protected by the massive city walls, but the New Dutch Waterline also offered protection. The entire line of defense The New Dutch Waterline stretches from Muiden to the Biesbosch and is 85 kilometers long. Huge defenses were built in places where the water could not be regulated. Since 2005, the New Dutch Waterline has been designated as a National Landscape, four years later the entire line was given the status of National Monument. Since 2010, the defense line has been a candidate for UNESCO's World Heritage List. And rightly so, because the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie is a beautiful nature reserve with forts, shelters for birds and protected animal species and hydraulic feats that are visible and hidden in the landscape. Two of the beautiful forts on the Waterline can be viewed along this cycle route. Fort Asperen is a tower fort, a kind of fort that was mainly built in the New Dutch Waterline between 1840 and 1860. The towers of this fort are made of heavy masonry and have a diameter of 33 meters. In the past, the fort was only accessible via a wooden drawbridge. During the mobilization of 1970 during the Franco-German war and during the Second World War, the Netherlands remained relatively untouched and the New Dutch Waterline did not have to be deployed. In 1940, on April 12, the fort was prepared for combat for the last time. Fort Asperen is now called Kunstfort Asperen: it is the first fort to run a cultural program and has been organizing annual cultural events and exhibitions since'86. The other fortress the route leads you to is the Werk aan het Spoel. In 1815 an inundation fan sluice with an earthen defense was built here. These were improved in 1879 and bombproof buildings were added to the earthworks. What is special is that the road on the dike ran right through the fort. In wartime, this road was closed off and an alternative route along the forts canal had to be chosen. From a strategic point of view, the Werk aan het Spoel was necessary, but it had a dangerous location along the railway line from's-Hertogenbosch to Utrecht. Enemies could easily take cover behind the railway.
Forest Cultural routes Nature Route Fort Route E-bike routes Monument routes

Height Profile

Waterlinies 2015

The concept for a defense line in which the low-lying polder landscape is flooded dates back to 1589. With the fortresses in the fortified towns of Muiden, Weesp, Naarden, Gorinchem and Woudrichem, the line was guarded from the higher ground. Explore these unique fortresses in the unique polder landscape.

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Below you will find various suggestions for breaks that you can visit during your route. These are divided into different categories, making it easy for you to choose.

Directions

# Description Distance
Parkeerplaats (2, 4101NX, Culemborg, Gelderland, The Netherlands) 0.00 km
87
87 (Kooiweg Oost, 4107LT, Culemborg, Gelderland, The Netherlands) 3.98 km
16
16 (4153RH, West Betuwe, Gelderland, The Netherlands) 4.74 km
32
32 (4153RZ, West Betuwe, Gelderland, The Netherlands) 6.10 km
55
55 (4153RS, West Betuwe, Gelderland, The Netherlands) 9.28 km
54
54 (4157GL, West Betuwe, Gelderland, The Netherlands) 9.72 km

Reviews

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