Middelie 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 North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of

Edam-Volendam Edam-Volendam () is a municipality in the northwest Netherlands, in the province of North Holland, primarily consisting of the towns of Edam and Volendam. It is situated on the western shore of the Markermeer, just north of Waterland. In 2019, ...

, and lies about 5 km northeast of

Purmerend Purmerend () is a city and municipality in the west of the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and in the region of West Friesland. The city is surrounded by polders, such as the Purmer, Beemster and the Wormer. The city became the t ...

History

The village was first mentioned in 1277 as Homines de Middela, and means "the middle river". Middelie developed in the 12th century as a

peat Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficient ...

excavation settlement. It used to be a fishing village, but after the Purmer was '' polder''ed, it lost its connection to the sea and the village stagnated. During the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radi ...

s settled in the village, and used to make up half the population until the 20th century. The Mennonite church is a modest aisleless church which was built in 1899 as a replacement of a wooden church. In 2013, ownership was transferred to a foundation and is used for weddings, meetings and concerts. Middelie was home to 324 people in 1840. It was a separate municipality until 1970, when the new municipality of Zeevang was created. In 2016, it became part of the municipality of

References

External links

* Former municipalities of North Holland Populated places in North Holland Geography of Edam-Volendam {{NorthHolland-geo-stub