Glory Ruin Route

The route runs through the area of the Heerlijkheid Ruinen. What is a Glory? A lordship is an area in which government authority was issued in fief by, for example, the bishop of Utrecht to, in this case, the Lords of Ruinen. The lords of Ruinen lived in the castle of Ruinen; the no longer existing manor Oldenhave. The lords were allowed to govern the area, administer justice, appoint ministers and levy taxes. In addition to the six Dingspelen, Drenthe also had three other glories: Coevorden, Echten and Hoogersmilde.
In Ruinen on the site of the current church stood the oldest monastery in Drenthe. Around 1140 the Benedictine monastery was founded. In 1325 the monks moved because Ruinen became too busy (too many people) to Dikninge. Remnants of the monastery's abbey church can still be found in and around the current church. After 1325, the abbey church was used as a parish church by the Heerheid Ruinen. The interior of the church is also very beautiful with, among other things: 16th century wall paintings and an altar stone from 1100 from the old chapel.

Forestry Ruinen
This 1000-hectare forest and heath area was created in 1940. Before that time it was a peat, heath and drift sand area. The forestry consists largely of coniferous trees; deciduous trees are much less common. The natural areas have been left undisturbed during the extraction. As a result, the wet heathland vegetation of the Gijsselter- and Pesserkoelen, as well as the shifting sands of the Echtenerzand with its juniper shrubs and erratic flying pines, have been preserved.
Nest cavities of the black woodpecker have been carved into the beeches in the beech avenue, which runs through the middle of the forestry. Tawny owls, stock pigeons and jackdaws breed in the old burrows; also
martens and bats raise their young there. On the heath you can encounter the adder, the grass snake and the viviparous lizard.

real
An old esdorp, founded around 1180 as an area owned by the monastery of Ruinen. In the 13th century, descendants of the Van Coevorden family (the noble owners of the castle in Coevorden) settled in Echten and built a manor house there. The oldest part of the current house probably dates from the 15th century. The garden around the house is of a much more recent date and was laid out in 1992.

Cookie
Koekange is first mentioned in 1191. The monks of the Ruinen monastery have reclaimed the peat bogs. The village was cut in half with the construction of the Groningen-Meppel railway line in 1970.

Blijstein
The Reformed Church of Ruinerwold is located in the hamlet of Blikkenstein. The church dates from the 12th century and was enlarged in the 16th century. The tower was built in the 15th century. The interior includes a Van Oeckelen organ.

Ruinerwold
A charter from 1141 already mentions a wetland between Ruinen and Meppel.
Around 1900 a number of large farms arose along the road to Meppel.
Until 1924 the Dr. Larijweg a footpath that passed in front of the farms. When it was taken into use, it was determined that more than 1300 pear trees had to be planted. The flowering trees give the landscape a special look in the spring between the ribbon of farms. The dr. Larijweg forms the bicycle connection between Ruinerwold and Ruinen. Museum farm De Karstenhoeve is located at number 21. The building from 1680 includes 17th century cupboard walls and tile panels.