What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the words Urban planning? I am sure that building blocks, planning permission, infrastructure and of course transportation could not escape your mind. Well, in a way all of these relate to roads which help us get from one place to another because they obviously connect different places on land.
As much as this speaks of roads’ significance it is crucial to understand that they are also of vital importance for the economical and social growth and development of a nation.
If the is so, would you find it too hard to believe that there is a place with no existing roads? Yes, this is so true. If by any chance you have been dreaming about simple life, you might want to consider moving to Giethoorn, Netherlands.
This fairytale village has no roads and residents travel to their straw- roofed farm houses by a canal boats.
This is an idyllic village that is located in the Dutch province of Overijssel and it dates back to the 18 century. There are approximately 2600 inhabitants who dwell there.
Significantly, there are only two ways to get access to the houses as well as to the public buildings. It is either by cycling or walking across 176 wooden arc bridges or by cruising the one- meter- deep canals which were constructed by monks who wanted to transport peat.
By all means, it is a blissful place, as pretty as a picture, and it looks like it is purely out of a fairytale. With this in mind, it is no wonder that it is called Venice of the Netherlands.
Tourists are obliged to leave their vehicles outside the village, and to travel by silent boats with soundless engines, by foot or bike.
The photographs that follow witness the idylls of this divine place:
The idyllic place known as Giethoorn presents a breathtaking destination for tourists due to the fact that it has no roads or vehicles at all
Away from all the noise and traffic, the only means of transport this place has to offer are bikes or boats or walking over the arch bridges made entirely by wood and the heavenly narrow paths
It is no less than a fairytale, cozy and soothing; this place is Venice of the Netherlands.
It has been the Franciscan monks who found this place in 1230. What they revealed with their coming after the flood was a number of goat horns being left. Therefore, they named the village Giethoorn after the Dutch term of goat horns.
In winter, cruising with the whisper boats is impossible, so dwellers stick mainly to the bridges or they ski.
The village remains undiscovered by the outside world provided by the fact that it still does not get many visitors.
There are four miles of canals.
