Riel is a village (

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 ...

: '' dorp'') in the municipality of

Goirle Goirle () is a municipality and town in the southern Netherlands, in the province of North Brabant. Part of the suburban area of the city of Tilburg, it shares with it its phone area code and public transport system. The municipality also includes ...

, south of

Tilburg Tilburg () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern province of North Brabant. With a population of 222,601 (1 July 2021), it is the second-largest city or municipality in North Brabant after Eindhoven and the seventh-larg ...

in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

North Brabant North Brabant ( nl, Noord-Brabant ; Brabantian: ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to the w ...

. Until 1997 it belonged to the municipality

Alphen en Riel Alphen en Riel is a former municipality in the Dutch province of North Brabant. It covered the villages of Alphen and Riel. In 1997, the municipality was divided between the new municipality of Alphen-Chaam, and the municipality of Goirle Goirle ...

. On the east it is bordered by the stream valley of the river Donge, on the west by the deactivated railroad Turnhout- Tilburg. Riel is a so-called ''

esdorp __NOTOC__ An ''Angerdorf'' (plural: ''Angerdörfer'') is a type of village that is characterised by the houses and farmsteads being laid out around a central grassed area, the ''anger'' (from the Old High German ''angar'' =pasture or grassy place ...

''. The village grew and stretched out as new

enclosure Enclosure or Inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or " common land" enclosing it and by doing so depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land ...

s took place alongside the main road. First development took place as early as in the 7th century, with a peak in the 12th century when the church stimulated the enclosure of the common grounds and development. Nowadays Riel is a commuter village. In the South and East large nature preserves are located, such as the moor "Regte Heide", also a

tumulus A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones bu ...

site, "Riels Laag" and hunting ground "Hoefke". Because the stream valley cuts through moor and sandy areas, there is a considerable difference in heights.

Gallery

File:Riel, de Sint Antonius Abtkerk RM516998 foto3 2015-06-17 16.34.jpg, Riel, church: de Sint Antonius Abtkerk File:BoerderijenZandeindRiel 04.jpg, Farm in Riel File:DorpsstraatRiel4.jpg, House in Riel File:BoerderijenZandeindRiel 05.jpg, House in Riel

References

{{Commons category, position=left Populated places in North Brabant Goirle