Tour De Deelen from Heerenveen

Heerenveen is the oldest peat canal village in the Netherlands, founded in 1551. The name Heerenveen comes from a company that was involved in peat reclamation: the owners of this company were three gentlemen. In the nineteenth century, many middle-class citizens came to live here. Soon you cycle past Crack State, named after Johannes Sytzes Crack who had this beautiful house built in 1648. Later it became government property. A prison was built there in 1890, since 1952 Crack State has served as Heerenveen's town hall. A new town hall was built in 1993, but it is connected to the original house by a corridor.