Gaast is a village in

Súdwest-Fryslân Southwest Friesland ( fy, Súdwest-Fryslân ) is a municipality in the Northern Netherlands, located in the province of Friesland. It had a population of 84,092 in August 2017. Sneek is the municipal seat. With a total area of 841.56 km2, Sú ...

municipality in the province of

Friesland Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. It had a population of around 220 in January 2017.

History

The village was first mentioned in the 13th century as lutekagast, and means "

geest Geest is a type of landform, slightly raised above the surrounding countryside, that occurs on the plains of Northern Germany, the Northern Netherlands and Denmark. It is a landscape of sandy and gravelly soils formed as a glacial outwash plai ...

(higher sandy ground)". Gaast developed on a sand bank near the former

Zuiderzee The Zuiderzee or Zuider Zee (; old spelling ''Zuyderzee'' or ''Zuyder Zee'') was a shallow bay of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands, extending about 100 km (60 miles) inland and at most 50 km (30 miles) wide, with an o ...

(nowadays:

IJsselmeer The IJsselmeer (; fy, Iselmar, nds-nl, Iesselmeer), also known as Lake IJssel in English, is a closed off inland bay in the central Netherlands bordering the provinces of Flevoland, North Holland and Friesland. It covers an area of with an a ...

). Its proximity to the sea has caused problems. In 1643, the dyke broke. In 1702, it managed to hold on, however 23 ships off the coast sank near Gaast. The economy used to be based on fishing and sailing, however it has become an agricultural community. The Dutch Reformed church was built in the 14th century, and has been restored in 1916. Gaast was home to 217 people in 1840. Before 2011, the village was part of the

Wûnseradiel Wûnseradiel () is a former municipality in the Friesland province of the northern Netherlands, at the eastern end of the ''Afsluitdijk''. The official (legal) name of the municipality is in the West Frisian language, though it is known as Wonsera ...

municipality.

Gallery

File:Gaast NH kerk-3.JPG, Church of Gaast File:Een mooi straatje in het dorp Gaast in Friesland.jpg, Street of Gaast File:DSC08633 - GAAST (NL) (26639597799).jpg, Canal view File:Gezicht vanaf de dijk op Buren - Gaast - 20401088 - RCE.jpg, View from the dike (1979)

References

External links

Súdwest-Fryslân Populated places in Friesland {{Friesland-geo-stub