Haarzuilens is a village in the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

province of

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

. It is a part of the municipality of

, and lies about 12 km west from the city centre of Utrecht. It was a separate municipality until 1954, when it was joined to the municipality of

Vleuten Vleuten is a former village in the Dutch province of Utrecht. Today, it is a neighbourhood of the city of Utrecht, and lies about 6 km west from the city centre. Vleuten has a railway station on the line between Utrecht and Woerden. In 2001, ...

. In 2018, the village of Haarzuilens has about 500 inhabitants. Pronounced “''Harzollens''” by the local Dutch inhabitants, the village was built around the turn of the 19th century after its predecessor and the local castle De Haar had been destroyed in a devastating fire. The trees surrounding the castle are said to have originated in a forest on the other side of Utrecht. Local lore has it that several houses in Utrecht were demolished in order to move the trees to their new location and to give the castle's landlord his forest without the decades of delay usually required to grow new trees. Nevertheless, the landlord allegedly went on a five-year honeymoon trip before the trees had been replanted. It is famous for De Haar Castle, which is surrounded by gardens and which is the location of the annual Elf Fantasy Fair. The

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

, after 1892 fully refurbished by the Baroness

Hélène van Zuylen Baroness Hélène van Zuylen van Nijevelt van de Haar or Hélène de Zuylen de Nyevelt de Haar, née de Rothschild (21 August 1863 – 17 October 1947) was a French author and a member of the prominent Rothschild banking family. She collaborated ...

and owned by baron since 2000, attracted 76,500 visitors in 2002.

References

External links

* Populated places in Utrecht (province) Former municipalities of Utrecht (province) {{Utrecht-geo-stub