Fort Vijfhuizen is one of forty-two forts in the Defense Line of Amsterdam (Dutch: ''stelling van Amsterdam''), a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

. It is located in the town of

Vijfhuizen Vijfhuizen is a village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Haarlemmermeer, and lies about 4 km southeast of Haarlem. In January 2011, the town of Vijfhuizen had 4387 inhabitants. The built-up area of th ...

on the ''

ringvaart The Ringvaart (known in full as Ringvaart of the Haarlemmermeer Polder) is a canal in the province of North Holland, the Netherlands. The Ringvaart (Dutch meaning "ring canal") is a true circular canal surrounding the Haarlemmermeer polder an ...

'' which surrounds the

Haarlemmermeer Haarlemmermeer () is a municipality in the west of the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Haarlemmermeer is a polder, consisting of land reclaimed from water. The name Haarlemmermeer means 'Haarlem's lake', referring to the body of wate ...

polder. The main fort is currently maintained by a charitable foundation called ''Kunstfort Vijfhuizen'' which leases space for twelve artist studios and a restaurant. The fort is situated on a hill surrounded by a moat and accessible during opening hours. It was built in 1889 and 1890 with sand taken from the excavations for a new sluice-gate complex in IJmuiden.Fort bij Vijfhuizen
on Stelling van Amsterdam website On 3 May 1943 an American Ventura bomber crashed into the moat. South of this fort, also along the ''ringvaart'', is the first fore position of the fort, currently part of a golf course. A bit further south is yet another fore position at fort Cruquius, just south of the

Cruquius Museum The Museum De Cruquius (or Cruquiusmuseum) occupies the old Cruquius steam pumping station in Cruquius, the Netherlands. It derives its name from Nicolaas Kruik (1678–1754), a Dutch land-surveyor and one of many promoters of a plan to pump ...

. File:Fort-vijfhuizen-geniedijk.jpg, View of the ''geniedijk'', looking southwest from fort Vijfhuizen File:Spotters-hill-bunkers-ringvaart.jpg, View of bunkers, representing fore position of fort Vijfhuizen File:Fort-cruquius.jpg, View of the road crossing the bunkers of fort Cruquius, the secondmost fore position of fort Vijfhuizen (seen from below the dike looking up towards the ringvaart. The trees are on the Heemstede side of the canal). File:Luchtfoto's - Vijfhuizen - 20242359 - RCE.jpg, Old aerial photo of the fort and surroundings along the ringvaart canal

References

External links

Rijksmonuments in Haarlemmermeer Tourist attractions in North Holland

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