The Jammerdaal and the Trappists

Jammerdaal or Jammerdal (Venloos: Jaomerdal or Jaomerdaal) is a district in the Venlo district in the municipality of Venlo. The district has 320 inhabitants (2006 CBS). Origin Originally, this area was a sandy and hilly terrain southeast of Venlo that was reclaimed from the end of the 18th century until the 1930s to extract clay and gravel. This created lakes where swimmers can now regularly be found in the summer. There are several versions about the origin of the name Jammerdaal (Jaomerdal). The name could be derived from the consequences of a bloody battle in Roman times. In the year 54 BC, Julius Caesar's XIVth legion was destroyed by Ambiorix's Eburones after the promise of free retreat, and this valley is one of the locations mentioned in this context. Another explanation is that someone once had a tragic accident while digging a well. Nature reserve Nuvola single chevron right.svg See Jammerdaalse Heide for the main article on this subject. Nowadays, the Jammerdal is a nature reserve and only the Onderste and Bovenste Molen neighbourhoods are inhabited. The two neighbourhoods owe their names to the two watermills that were there. The inhabitants of the Jammerdal therefore mainly live in this area. The nature reserve is maintained by the Het Limburgs Landschap foundation. Until the nineties of the last century, the only natural swimming pool in Venlo was located here, a well-known summer attraction for the inhabitants of Venlo and the surrounding area. This was constructed in the thirties in the former mill pond of the'onderste (water)molen\\\'. A luxury residential area has now been built on the site of this pool. The area is surrounded by the Venlo-Maastricht (national line E) and Venlo-Viersen (national line G) railway lines. Archeology Nuvola single chevron right.svg See Burial mounds on the Jammerdaalse Heide for the main article on this subject. Several Celtic burial mounds from the Bronze Age and Iron Age have been found in the Jammerdal, some of which still contained urns with grave gifts. Stone tools from the Neolithic have also been found here and there in the area.