The Netherlands, Old windmills of Kinderdijk

The windmills are located about 15km from Rotterdam, in a village called Kinderdijk. The village is located in the Alblasserwald polders, an area approximately 10×20 miles, at the confluence of the Lek and Noord Rivers. In the summer of old mills include for many tourists, so that they feel the atmosphere of medieval Holland. In one of the mills even has a small museum.

Lovers of windmills will be visually rewarded when they visit Kinderdijk: nowhere else in the world will you find such a concentration of operational windmills, not even in other parts of the Netherlands! The nineteen mills at Kinderdijk were built between 1500 and 1740 and they are so well-preserved that in 1997, the windmills were put on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

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The oldest mill found at this complex was built in 1521 and is the only example found of a hollow post mill. Two windmills are made of stone, built around 1760, and are situated on the polder Nieuw-Lekkerland. There are eight stone/brick windmills on the side of the river DeNederwaard, built in 1738, and these are known as bonnet or rotating cap mills, meaning that only the top section revolves in the wind. The windmills are a beautiful sight to behold when in full spin, and their massive sails come within inches of the ground; these windmills are known as ground sailers. And finally, there are eight thatched-roof windmills on the side of the DeOverwaard River, dating from the 1740s. These mills are also bonnet mills, but are built from wood and are octagonal in shape.

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Source — Cityguiderotterdam  Scribol.com