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75-524: Drachten began as a small community on the east side of the Drait (or Dracht) river. There, early settlers started draining the land to use it for agriculture. As the process of draining progressed, residents began to move further eastward in order to use the drained land—former peatbogs —for agriculture . Around 1200 A.D., a small stone church was built. It was used for 200 years afterward, until rising waters drove people even further east. By 1550

150-456: A fen (or, on acidic substrates, valley bog), to a carr , as silt or peat accumulates within the lake. Eventually, peat builds up to a level where the land surface is too flat for ground or surface water to reach the center of the wetland. This part, therefore, becomes wholly rain-fed (ombrotrophic), and the resulting acidic conditions allow the development of bog (even if the substrate is non-acidic). The bog continues to form peat, and over time

225-497: A broad definition: Because all bogs have peat, they are a type of peatland. As a peat-producing ecosystem, they are also classified as mires , along with fens. Bogs differ from fens, in that fens receive water and nutrients from mineral-rich surface or groundwater, while bogs receive water and nutrients from precipitation. Because fens are supplied with mineral-rich water, they tend to range from slightly acidic to slightly basic, while bogs are always acidic because precipitation lacks

300-812: A butterfly called the bog copper ( Lycaena epixanthe ). In Ireland, the viviparous lizard , the only known reptile in the country, dwells in bogland. The United Kingdom in its Biodiversity Action Plan establishes bog habitats as a priority for conservation. Russia has a large reserve system in the West Siberian Lowland . The highest protected status occurs in Zapovedniks ( IUCN category IV); Gydansky and Yugansky are two prominent examples. Bogs are fragile ecosystems, and have been deteriorating quickly, as archaeologists and scientists have been recently finding. Bone material found in bogs has had accelerated deterioration from first analyses in

375-541: A cemetery and other communal institutions. Land for 'The Jodenkerkhof' (Jews' cemetery) was purchased in 1679, near the Oldehove tower. The first synagogue in the city was built in the 17th century, and was also used by the city's Catholics who were not allowed to build a house of worship of their own because of the Protestant city authorities. The Jewish community enjoyed generally good relations with authorities in

450-612: A characteristic brown colour, which comes from dissolved peat tannins . In general, the low fertility and cool climate result in relatively slow plant growth, but decay is even slower due to low oxygen levels in saturated bog soils. Hence, peat accumulates. Large areas of the landscape can be covered many meters deep in peat. Bogs have distinctive assemblages of animal, fungal, and plant species, and are of high importance for biodiversity , particularly in landscapes that are otherwise settled and farmed. Bogs are widely distributed in cold, temperate climes , mostly in boreal ecosystems in

525-522: A deposit of dead plant materials – often mosses , typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands . Other names for bogs include mire , mosses, quagmire, and muskeg ; alkaline mires are called fens . A bayhead is another type of bog found in the forest of the Gulf Coast states in the United States. They are often covered in heath or heather shrubs rooted in

600-421: A green and water-rich environment. Leeuwarden is a former royal residence and has a historic city centre, many historically relevant buildings, and a large shopping centre with squares and restaurants. Leeuwarden was awarded the title European Capital of Culture for 2018. Also, Leeuwarden has been a UNESCO City of Literature since 2019. The Elfstedentocht (Eleven Cities Tour), an ice skating tour passing

675-457: A large flower market (held on Ascension Day ). There is also a weekly cattle market. Leeuwarden railway station (opened on 27 October 1863) is the main railway station of Leeuwarden. It is a terminus station of the NS railway line from Zwolle . Regional trains, served by Arriva , operate to Groningen in the east, Harlingen in the west and Stavoren in the southwest. The other stations in

750-534: A number of governmental and conservation agencies. They can provide habitat for mammals, such as caribou , moose , and beavers , as well as for species of nesting shorebirds, such as Siberian cranes and yellowlegs . Bogs contain species of vulnerable reptilians such as the bog turtle . Bogs even have distinctive insects; English bogs give a home to a yellow fly called the hairy canary fly ( Phaonia jaroschewskii ), and bogs in North America are habitat for

825-573: A provincial mint operated in the city, minting gold, silver and copper coins of Friesland. The Jewish community of Leeuwarden was one of the earliest in the Netherlands aside from Amsterdam , and was first mentioned in 1645. By 1670, the city council granted a man referred to as "Jacob the Jew" (in Dutch) permission to build a Jewish cemetery, meaning that there were enough Jews living there to require

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900-462: A road in Drachten blue with white lettering and traffic markings. The road is called Moleneind. The lettering spells "Water is Leven" (Water is Life), meant to symbolize a prior waterway that was paved over. The part of this water that was situated in the centre of Drachten was closed in the 1960s, in order to stimulate the local economy and give space to the increased road traffic. Now the centre of

975-527: A roothold. The result is a narrow, permanently wet habitat. After drying, peat is used as a fuel , and it has been used that way for centuries. More than 20% of home heat in Ireland comes from peat, and it is also used for fuel in Finland, Scotland, Germany, and Russia. Russia is the leading exporter of peat for fuel, at more than 90 million metric tons per year. Ireland's Bord na Móna ("peat board")

1050-402: A shallow dome of bog peat develops into a raised bog. The dome is typically a few meters high in the center and is often surrounded by strips of fen or other wetland vegetation at the edges or along streamsides where groundwater can percolate into the wetland. The various types of raised bog may be divided into: In cool climates with consistently high rainfall (on more than c. 235 days a year),

1125-542: A total population of 124,084. Museums in the city of Leeuwarden: There are over 800 Rijksmonuments (national heritage sites) in the municipality of Leeuwarden. The Oldehove , a leaning unfinished church tower, is a symbol of the city. Other well-known buildings in the city centre include the Kanselarij (former chancellery), the Stadhouderlijk Hof (former residence of the stadtholders of Friesland),

1200-536: A year. The arrival of the Philips company was a major contributor to this growth. Today there are approximately 45,000 people living in Drachten; its major industrial production includes electrical goods, transport equipment, machinery, food, chemicals and furniture. Drachten is situated in the municipality of Smallingerland in the east of the province of Friesland in the north of the Netherlands . Leeuwarden

1275-582: Is IJshockeyclub Capitals Leeuwarden (IJCCL). Leeuwarden is the starting and finishing point for the celebrated Elfstedentocht , a 200 km (120 mi) speed skating race over the Frisian waterways that is held when winter conditions in the province allow. As of 2018, it last took place in January 1997, preceded by the races of 1986 and 1985. In 1986, the Dutch king Willem-Alexander participated in

1350-473: Is 35 kilometres (22 mi) to the northwest, Groningen 45 kilometres (28 mi) northeast, and Heerenveen 24 kilometres (15 mi) southwest. It is located along the Wijde Ee waterway, which flows into the larger Prinses Margriet Kanaal. It is surrounded by many small towns; its environment consists of lowlands with forests and peat moors, and nearby lakes. In April 2007, artist Henk Hofstra painted

1425-530: Is a city and municipality in Friesland , Netherlands , with a population of 127,073 (2023). It is the provincial capital and seat of the Provincial Council of Friesland . The region has been continuously inhabited since the 10th century. It came to be known as Leeuwarden in the early 9th century AD and was granted city privileges in 1435. It is the main economic hub of Friesland, situated in

1500-538: Is a public broadcaster with radio and TV programs mainly in Frisian. In the Netherlands, a municipality is governed by the college of mayor and aldermen and the municipal council . Sybrand van Haersma Buma of the CDA has been mayor of Leeuwarden since 26 August 2019. Since the 2014 municipal elections , the Labour Party (3 aldermen), Christian Democratic Appeal (2 aldermen), PAL GroenLinks (1 alderman) form

1575-582: Is seven metres high and consists of two white heads of a boy and a girl, their eyes closed and dreaming. Annual music festivals are Cityrock , Dancetour , Welcome To The Village , Into the Grave , Explore the North and Fries straatfestival . Other festivals are Noordelijk Film Festival (an event for film makers), photofestival Noorderlicht and the Media Art festival . Other events are Racing Expo and

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1650-571: Is the Cambuurstadion , which has a capacity of 10,500. The city's basketball team, Aris Leeuwarden , has played in the Dutch Basketball League since 2004. The Elfstedenhal is a sport venue. The stadium is used for long track speed skating , short track speed skating , ice hockey , figure skating and curling . The 400m indoor speed skating oval is named after speed skater Atje Keulen-Deelstra . The ice hockey club

1725-406: Is the oldest building in the city. The 15th century was the period of the two opposing Frisian factional parties Vetkopers and Schieringers . The bastions and a moat were built in the period 1481–1494. In 1747 William IV, Prince of Orange was the last stadtholder residing in the Stadhouderlijk Hof . In the first half of the 19th century the fortifications were demolished. From 1580 to 1752,

1800-557: The Cammingha-Buurstermolen were demolished in 2000. The Slauerhoffbrug is a fully automatic bascule bridge named after the poet Jan Jacob Slauerhoff . It uses two arms to swing a section of road in and out of place within the road itself. This movable bridge is also known as the 'Flying' Drawbridge. The tallest building in the city is the 114-metre (374 ft) Achmeatoren ( Achmea insurance tower), built in 2001 and designed by Abe Bonnema – who also designed

1875-581: The Academie voor Popkultuur ( Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen ) Technological Top Institute Wetsus does research into water-related technologies. Centre of Expertise Water Technology (CEW) is the knowledge and innovation centre for applied research and product development in the field of water technology and the Wadden Academy to study and research the Wadden Sea . Among

1950-648: The Afsluitdijk connects to Alkmaar in North Holland . The motorway A31 passes Leeuwarden and the A32 connects Leeuwarden to Meppel . The Van Harinxmakanaal is a major canal and connects Harlingen to Leeuwarden. Leeuwarden has a number of respected schools of applied science ( HBO in Dutch), (21,480 students in 2017), such as the Van Hall Instituut (agricultural and life sciences) and

2025-675: The Haraldskær Woman and Tollund Man in Denmark, and Lindow man found at Lindow Common in England. The Tollund Man was so well preserved that when the body was discovered in 1950, the discoverers thought it was a recent murder victim and researchers were even able to tell the last meal that the Tollund Man ate before he died: porridge and fish. This process happens because of the low oxygen levels of bogs in combination with

2100-461: The Middle Ages , when the city was called Lintarwrde . Some scholars argue that the name of the city is derived from leeu- , a corruption of luw- (Dutch for 'sheltered from the wind', cf. the maritime term leeward ) or from lee- (a Dutch word for waterway). 'Sheltered landing place or harbour' could be the original meaning. This suits the watery province of Friesland and the position of

2175-665: The NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences (hotel management, economical and media management). In addition to higher education, the city is also home to three regional vocational schools (MBO): the Friese Poort, Friesland College, and Nordwin College. Although the city has no university of its own, several satellite campuses are located here, including Campus Fryslân ( University of Groningen ), Dairy Campus ( Wageningen University and Research ) and

2250-1318: The Northern Hemisphere . The world's largest wetland is the peat bogs of the Western Siberian Lowlands in Russia , which cover more than a million square kilometres. Large peat bogs also occur in North America, particularly the Hudson Bay Lowland and the Mackenzie River Basin. They are less common in the Southern Hemisphere, with the largest being the Magellanic moorland , comprising some 44,000 square kilometres (17,000 sq mi) in southern South America. Sphagnum bogs were widespread in northern Europe but have often been cleared and drained for agriculture. A paper led by Graeme T. Swindles in 2019 showed that peatlands across Europe have undergone rapid drying in recent centuries owing to human impacts including drainage, peat cutting and burning. A 2014 expedition leaving from Itanga village, Republic of

2325-464: The barley used in making Scotch whisky . Once the peat has been extracted it can be difficult to restore the wetland , since peat accumulation is a slow process. More than 90% of the bogs in England have been damaged or destroyed. In 2011 plans for the elimination of peat in gardening products were announced by the UK government. The peat in bogs is an important place for the storage of carbon. If

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2400-552: The 10 largest employers in Leeuwarden are Medical Center Leeuwarden (MCL), ING , The Central Judicial Collection Agency (CJIB), Achmea , NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences , Leeuwarden Air Base and FrieslandCampina . WTC Expo is the largest events complex in the Northern Netherlands. The city's local football team, SC Cambuur , are playing in the second tier Eerste Divisie . Their home ground

2475-574: The 18th century and continued to expand throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, reaching a peak population of 1,236 in 1860. In 1901 the city's population was 32,203. Leeuwarden, like the rest of the Netherlands, was occupied by German forces in 1940–1945. This ended when elements of the Royal Canadian Dragoons seized the initiative and advanced into the heavily-defended city on 15 April 1945, ignoring direct orders to wait for supporting infantry. German forces had been driven out by

2550-416: The 1940s. This has been found to be from fluctuations in ground water and increase in acidity in lower areas of bogs that is affecting the rich organic material. Many of these areas have been permeated to the lowest levels with oxygen, which dries and cracks layers. There have been some temporary solutions to try and fix these issues, such as adding soil to the tops of threatened areas, yet they do not work in

2625-523: The Congo , discovered a peat bog "as big as England " which stretches into neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo . Like all wetlands, it is difficult to rigidly define bogs for a number of reasons, including variations between bogs, the in-between nature of wetlands as an intermediate between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and varying definitions between wetland classification systems. However, there are characteristics common to all bogs that provide

2700-479: The Drachtster Compagnonsvaart canal and two side channels had to be constructed. During one year 800 workers had been digging every day. And where people spent their days, other developments followed, such as dwellings, places for storage, hostels and businesses. Although the economic success of cutting peat was short-lived (it even led to Passchier Bolleman's financial ruin), it spurred on to

2775-414: The Dutch peat reserve had been exhausted. Peat had become an important source of energy, not only for private households but also for the industry. The need in the rapidly growing province of Holland during the 17th century was higher than Friesland could supply. Most of the transport was over water, therefore often by track boat. Peat exploitation meant a welcome activity for many villages, although most of

2850-549: The Eleven cities tour, with the pseudonym W.A. van Buren , which is the pseudonym of the royal family of the Netherlands. Loop Leeuwarden is an annual road running competition (5 km, 10 km and half marathon races). The race was first held in 1985 and takes place in May. It attracts amateur runners. The city of Leeuwarden has two sailing boats ( skûtsje ) racing in the yearly sailing competition Skûtsjesilen . Leeuwarden

2925-720: The Roman era and were discovered during an excavation near the Oldehove . Inhabited continuously since the 10th century, the city's first reference as a population centre is in German sources from 1285, and records exist of city privileges granted in 1435. Situated along the Middelzee , it was an active centre of maritime trade. The waterway silted-up in the 13th century. The Grote of Jacobijnerkerk (English: Great, or Jacobin Church )

3000-513: The city conceals an indication of water rather than an animal, and some sources suggest that the lion may have only been added after the name became official. It is also possible the coat of arms was a gift to the city from the powerful Minnema family. Leeuwarden is located centrally in Friesland. The military Leeuwarden Air Base lies northwest of the city. East of the city lies recreational area and nature reserve De Groene Ster . It contains

3075-667: The city hall (1715), the Waag (old weigh house), the Saint Boniface church (an important part of the neogothic movement) and the Centraal Apotheek , a pharmacy in the Art Nouveau style. The Blokhuispoort is a former prison that has been transformed into a public library, hostel and restaurant. The Froskepôlemolen (built in 1896), is the last surviving windmill to have stood in Leeuwarden . The remains of

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3150-518: The combination of low nutrient levels and waterlogging. Sphagnum is generally abundant, along with ericaceous shrubs. The shrubs are often evergreen, which may assist in conservation of nutrients. In drier locations, evergreen trees can occur, in which case the bog blends into the surrounding expanses of boreal evergreen forest. Sedges are one of the more common herbaceous species. Carnivorous plants such as sundews ( Drosera ) and pitcher plants (for example Sarracenia purpurea ) have adapted to

3225-426: The courts. A committee of inquiry recommended that the Frisian language should receive legal status as a minority language. On 19 October 2013, a fire broke out in a clothes shop on a busy pedestrian street. The fire started late in the afternoon and burned through the night, destroying five shops and eleven flats. The only casualty was a 24-year-old man who was living in one of the flats. The birthplace of Mata Hari

3300-400: The deepest part of the valley, and a stream may run through the surface of the bog. Valley bogs may develop in relatively dry and warm climates, but because they rely on ground or surface water, they only occur on acidic substrates. These develop from a lake or flat marshy area, over either non-acidic or acidic substrates. Over centuries there is a progression from open lake, to a marsh, to

3375-558: The dissolved minerals (e.g. calcium , magnesium , carbonate ) that act to buffer the natural acidity of atmospheric carbon dioxide . Geography and geology both impact the hydrology: as groundwater mineral content reflects the bedrock geology, there can be great deal of variability in some common ions (e.g. manganese , iron ) while proximity to coastal areas is associated with higher sulfate and sodium concentrations. There are many highly specialized animals, fungi, and plants associated with bog habitat. Most are capable of tolerating

3450-460: The edges of acidic lakes. The bog vegetation, mostly sphagnum moss anchored by sedges (such as Carex lasiocarpa ), forms a floating mat approximately half a meter thick on the surface of water or above very wet peat. White spruce ( Picea glauca ) may grow in this bog regime. Walking on the surface causes it to move – larger movements may cause visible ripples on the surface, or they may even make trees sway. The bog mat may eventually spread across

3525-557: The eleven cities of Friesland, starts and finishes in Leeuwarden. The following towns and villages within the municipality have populations in excess of 1,000 people: Leeuwarden, Stiens , Grou , Goutum , Wergea , Jirnsum , Reduzum , and Wirdum . The municipality is governed by the mayor Sybrand van Haersma Buma and a coalition of the Labour Party , Christian Democratic Appeal , and GreenLeft . The name "Leeuwarden" (or older variants of it) first came into use for Nijehove ,

3600-459: The end of the next day. (The anniversary is marked by both the Dragoons and the city, by flying each other's flags every 15 April.) Kneppelfreed (English: Baton Friday ) was an incident on 16 November 1951 in front of the courthouse at Wilhelminaplein (Wilhelmina Square), when the police used batons against Frisian language activists during a protest against the exclusive use of Dutch in

3675-548: The foundation of Drachten. The Drachtstervaart brought in ships and the ships brought in not only return freight, but also their own service industry: rope-yards, carpenter's yards and forges. In 1746 the first real shipyard was established on the Langewijk, initially only for the construction of timber flatboats, but after 1895 also for iron hull ships. In 1902 a second shipyard followed on the Drachtstervaart. Along

3750-553: The global average. Because bogs and other peatlands are carbon sinks, they are releasing large amounts of greenhouse gases as they warm up. These changes have resulted in a severe decline of biodiversity and species populations of peatlands throughout Northern Europe. Bog habitats may develop in various situations, depending on the climate and topography. Bogs may be classified on their topography, proximity to water, method of recharge, and nutrient accumulation. These develop in gently sloping valleys or hollows. A layer of peat fills

3825-421: The ground surface may remain waterlogged for much of the time, providing conditions for the development of bog vegetation . In these circumstances, bog develops as a layer "blanketing" much of the land, including hilltops and slopes. Although a blanket bog is more common on acidic substrates, under some conditions it may also develop on neutral or even alkaline ones, if abundant acidic rainwater predominates over

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3900-469: The groundwater. A blanket bog can occur in drier or warmer climates, because under those conditions hilltops and sloping ground dry out too often for peat to form – in intermediate climates a blanket bog may be limited to areas which are shaded from direct sunshine. In periglacial climates a patterned form of blanket bog may occur, known as a string bog . In Europe, these mostly very thin peat layers without significant surface structures are distributed over

3975-840: The headwaters of large rivers. Even the enormous Yangtze River arises in the Ruoergai peatland near its headwaters in Tibet . Blueberries , cranberries , cloudberries , huckleberries , and lingonberries are harvested from the wild in bogs. Bog oak , wood that has been partially preserved by bogs, has been used in the manufacture of furniture . Sphagnum bogs are also used for outdoor recreation, with activities including ecotourism and hunting. For example, many popular canoe routes in northern Canada include areas of peatland. Some other activities, such as all-terrain vehicle use, are especially damaging to bogs. The anaerobic environment and presence of tannic acids within bogs can result in

4050-811: The high acidity. These anaerobic conditions lead to some of the best-preserved mummies and offer much archeological insight into society as far as 8,000 years back. Céide Fields in County Mayo in Ireland, a 5,000-year-old neolithic farming landscape has been found preserved under a blanket bog , complete with field walls and hut sites. One ancient artifact found in various bogs is bog butter , large masses of fat, usually in wooden containers. These are thought to have been food stores of both butter and tallow . Leeuwarden Leeuwarden ( Dutch: [ˈleːu.ɑrdə(n)] ; West Frisian : Ljouwert [ˈljɔu(ə)t] ; Stadsfries Dutch : Liwwadden ; Leeuwarder dialect: Leewarden )

4125-521: The hills and valleys of Ireland, Scotland, England, and Norway. In North America, blanket bogs occur predominantly in Canada east of Hudson Bay . These bogs are often still under the influence of mineral soil water (groundwater). Blanket bogs do not occur north of the 65th latitude in the northern hemisphere. A quaking bog , schwingmoor , or swingmoor is a form of floating bog occurring in wetter parts of valley bogs and raised bogs and sometimes around

4200-609: The income did not flow into the pockets of the struggling peat cutters. In 1641, farmers in Drachten North and Drachten South entered into an agreement with wealthy residents of The Hague , the 'Drachten Associates'. One of these moneylenders was businessman Passchier Hendriks Bolleman from The Hague . The agreement stipulated that peat cut in Smallingerland was designated for the Holland industry. For transport by boat

4275-497: The long-term. Extreme weather like dry summers are likely the cause, as they lower precipitation and the groundwater table. It is speculated that these issues will only increase with a rise in global temperature and climate change. Since bogs take thousands of years to form and create the rich peat that is used as a resource, once they are gone they are extremely hard to recover. Arctic and sub-Arctic circles where many bogs are warming at 0.6 °C per decade, an amount twice as large as

4350-408: The low-nutrient conditions by using invertebrates as a nutrient source. Orchids have adapted to these conditions through the use of mycorrhizal fungi to extract nutrients. Some shrubs such as Myrica gale (bog myrtle) have root nodules in which nitrogen fixation occurs, thereby providing another supplemental source of nitrogen. Bogs are recognized as a significant/specific habitat type by

4425-471: The most important of the three villages (the other two being Oldehove and Hoek ) which in the early 9th century merged into Leeuwarden (Villa Lintarwrde c.  825). There is much uncertainty about the origin of the city's name. Historian and archivist Wopke Eekhoff summed up a total of over 200 different spelling variants, of which Leeuwarden ( Dutch ), Liwwadden ( Stadsfries ), and Ljouwert ( West Frisian ) are still in use. The second part of

4500-431: The municipality are Leeuwarden Camminghaburen , and Grou-Jirnsum . A fourth station Leeuwarden Werpsterhoeke was planned to be opened after 2018. Near the train station is the bus station. Arriva runs several city, regional and national buses. Route 66 Leeuwarden- Holwerd connects with the ferry to Ameland , bus route 50 to Lauwersoog connects with the departures of the ferry to Schiermonnikoog and route 350 via

4575-420: The name is easily explained: Warden , West Frisian/Dutch/Low German for an artificial dwelling-hill, is a designation of terps , reflecting the historical situation. The first part of the name, leeuw , means lion in modern standard Dutch. This interpretation corresponds with the coat of arms adopted by the city, which features a heraldic lion . However, modern standard Dutch was not used in this region in

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4650-526: The original three villages at the end of an important estuary called Middelzee . The name is also similar to that of the French commune Lewarde , located in the Nord Department , an originally Flemish-speaking area annexed to France in the 17th century. Western Flemish was related to Frisian and also to Saxon up to the 11th century. The oldest remains of houses date back to the 2nd century AD in

4725-475: The peat decays, carbon dioxide would be released to the atmosphere, contributing to global warming. Undisturbed, bogs function as a carbon sink . As one example, the peatlands of the former Soviet Union were calculated to be removing 52 Tg of carbon per year from the atmosphere. Therefore, the rewetting of drained peatlands may be one of the most cost-effective ways to mitigate climate change. Peat bogs are also important in storing fresh water, particularly in

4800-613: The remarkable preservation of organic material. Finds of such material have been made in Slovenia , Denmark , Germany , Ireland , Russia , and the United Kingdom. Some bogs have preserved bog-wood, such as ancient oak logs useful in dendrochronology . They have yielded extremely well-preserved bog bodies , with hair, organs, and skin intact, buried there thousands of years ago after apparent Germanic and Celtic human sacrifice . Excellent examples of such human specimens include

4875-410: The second-tallest building, Averotoren at 77 m (253 ft). On 6 September 2013 Leeuwarden was voted European Capital of Culture for the year 2018. Many events were organised throughout the year. The largest art project was the 11Fountains , fountains in the Frisian eleven cities. The Love Fountain , located in front of the train station, was designed by artist Jaume Plensa . The fountain

4950-473: The side of the canal, pubs, shops, shipbuilding facilities, and public utilities, such as a rope-walk , were built. Around 1830, a town hall was built, and a notary public moved from nearby Oudega to Drachten. The peat industry of Drachten lasted for 200 years. When it ended, the poorer workers stayed behind; some became small farmers, but most of them had no success. In the post-war period between 1950 and 1991, Drachten grew by an average of 1,000 inhabitants

5025-582: The sphagnum moss and peat. The gradual accumulation of decayed plant material in a bog functions as a carbon sink . Bogs occur where the water at the ground surface is acidic and low in nutrients. A bog usually is found at a freshwater soft spongy ground that is made up of decayed plant matter which is known as peat. They are generally found in cooler northern climates and are formed in poorly draining lake basins. In contrast to fens , they derive most of their water from precipitation rather than mineral-rich ground or surface water. Water flowing out of bogs has

5100-434: The town was no longer reachable by boat. In 1996 the first plans were made to recreate the water way into the heart of the town so water tourists will come back to Drachten and visit the centre by boat; it is called the "Drachtstervaart" project. The reconstruction of the area started in 2001 and was supposed to last until 2011. Due to the economic crisis, the construction was stopped for about two years. The construction on

5175-427: The town's centre in an effort to improve traffic safety, based on the theory that drivers pay more attention to their surroundings when they cannot rely on strict traffic rules. Previously the town's centre had an average of eight accidents per year. In the first two years after the system was introduced, yearly accidents were reduced to one. Bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as

5250-401: The water surface to cover bays or even entire small lakes. Bogs at the edges of lakes may become detached and form floating islands . A cataract bog is a rare ecological community formed where a permanent stream flows over a granite outcropping. The sheeting of water keeps the edges of the rock wet without eroding the soil, but in this precarious location, no tree or large shrub can maintain

5325-509: The water way continued in 2013, and it has since been completed. Drachten is not served by the Dutch railway system but it is situated next to the A7 motorway . Its extensive bus system connects it to Leeuwarden , Groningen , Heerenveen , and other centres. Drachten received international attention for a traffic experiment known as shared space , a concept pioneered by Hans Monderman . Almost all traffic lights and signs have been removed in

5400-886: The windmill Himriksmole , a golf course and AquaZoo Friesland . On 1 January 2014 parts of the neighbouring Boarnsterhim municipality were added to Leeuwarden. On 1 January 2018 it was enlarged by Leeuwarderadeel and parts of former municipality of Littenseradiel . The hamlets within the municipality are: Abbenwier , Angwier , Baarderbuorren , Bartlehiem (partially), De Him , De Hoek , De Trije Romers , Domwier , Finsterbuorren , Fûns , Groote Bontekoe , Goatum , Hesens , Hoarne , Hoptille , It Hoflân , It Wiel , Marwert , Midsbuorren , Narderbuorren , Noardein , Oude Schouw (partially), Poelhuzen , Rewert (partially), Skillaerd , Skrins , Suderbuorren , Suorein , Tichelwurk , Truerd , Tsienzerbuorren , Tsjaard , Tsjeintgum , Vierhuis , Vrouwbuurtstermolen (partially), Wammert and Wieuwens As of 2020, Leeuwarden had

5475-414: Was at first thought to be destroyed, but survived, albeit with considerable smoke and water damage. The coat of arms of Leeuwarden is the official symbol of the municipality. It consists of a blue escutcheon , a golden lion , and a crown . The fact that Leeuwarden carries a lion in its seal seems logical, considering that "Leeuw" is Dutch for "Lion". However, it is very plausible the oldest name of

5550-452: Was one of the first companies to mechanically harvest peat, which is being phased out. The other major use of dried peat is as a soil amendment (sold as moss peat or sphagnum peat ) to increase the soil's capacity to retain moisture and enrich the soil. It is also used as a mulch . Some distilleries , notably in the Islay whisky-producing region, use the smoke from peat fires to dry

5625-544: Was to be the host of the World Flying Disc Federation 2020 World Ultimate and Guts Championships from the 11th to the 18th of July. The event was expected to have over 2500 athletes from 40 countries. The event was cancelled ( COVID-19 pandemic ). The Leeuwarder Courant and Friesch Dagblad are daily newspapers mainly written in Dutch (published by the NDC Mediagroep ). Omrop Fryslân

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