Anloo, Rolde and Eext

The Drentsche Aa winds its way through a landscape where farmers have been in charge for years. Despite this, they have managed to keep the landscape reasonably intact and have adapted to the meandering river with respect for nature. This is an area where fields have been created on rounded ash trees, where fields have been laid out on higher ground and where hayfields and meadows can be found in lower stream valleys. The farmlands are dominated by Saxon farms around village greens. The result: a unique esdorp landscape that you will not find anywhere else. In a beautiful coulisse landscape, open and closed areas alternate strongly, which means that the picturesque area always remains exciting. From the starting point of the route, you can park your car for free at De Koningsberg, you cycle to a historic burial mound. Drenthe is also home to several of these ancient graves and all burial mounds in the Netherlands are archaeological monuments. The dead were given their final resting place in these hills from antiquity. When someone died, he was kept in a coffin or urn, after which a burial mound was built over the human remains. Several people were buried in a burial mound. Burial mounds have even been found that were used at different times and that were constantly adapted and raised over the centuries. The burial mounds in Drenthe date from the Bronze Age. Another historical element during your tour is Motte Gieten. A motte castle is a type of castle from the Middle Ages, which is usually made of wood and was built on a constructed hill of earth: a motte. A residential tower (donjon), castle or defensive structure was built on that hill and the earth with which the hill was built often came from the moat that was dug out around it. It is not clear whether the motte Gieten had a permanent resident and what the motte looked like in full regalia.