The Abtswoudse Bos is man-made park and land art project, opened in 2000, of about 190 ha. It lies south of the

Tanthof Tanthof is a quarter in the South of Delft, the Netherlands. It was built in the 1970s and 1980s and consists mainly of low-rise buildings. The area is divided in two parts, Tanthof-East and Tanthof-West. West and East Tanthof-West and Tanthof-E ...

neighbourhood in

Delft Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...

, east of

Schipluiden Schipluiden is a village in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. It is the seat of the council of the municipality of Midden-Delfland. The village was founded relatively late in the 15th century and evolved around the Keen ...

and north of

Overschie Overschie is a neighborhood of Rotterdam, Netherlands, formerly a separate village with its own municipality. The village of Overschie was located on the intersection of four rivers called "Schie": the Delftsche Schie, Schiedamsche Schie, Delfs ...

. The Abtswoudse Bos is situated in a

polder A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as dikes. The three types of polder are: # Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a lake or the seabed # Flood plains s ...

and has trees, bushes, footpaths, cycling roads, ditches, lakes, and small ponds. The area's waters contain many

aquatic plants Aquatic plants are plants that have adapted to living in aquatic environments (saltwater or freshwater). They are also referred to as hydrophytes or macrophytes to distinguish them from algae and other microphytes. A macrophyte is a plant that ...

, like reeds, underwater plants, and floating plants. The polder used to consist of meadows.

Mother Earth

In the centre of the park lies Moeder Aarde (Dutch for Mother Earth). It consists of an artificial hill of about 200 meter wide, 170 meter long and 5 meter high, resembling a human figure. Around this hill is a meadow with planted ashes. In the center of Mother Earth is a circular pond. Bushes with berries have been planted on the arms and legs. The knees, hands, and feet have stayed open. The footpaths on the hill are meant to resemble blood veins. File:Abtwoudsebos delft 002.jpg, Lake of Mother Earth File:Abtwoudsebos delft 003.jpg, Man-planted ashes File:Abtwoudsebos delft 004.jpg, Wetlands File:Wetlands_in_Abtswoudse_Bos,_Delft.jpg, Mother Earth seen from a distance

References

{{Reflist Delft Land art