Wilnis 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 fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

. It is located in the municipality of

De Ronde Venen De Ronde Venen (; ) is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. On 1 January 2011, the municipality of Abcoude was amalgamated into De Ronde Venen. Population centres The municipality of De Ronde Venen consists of the villag ...

, between

Mijdrecht Mijdrecht is a town in the Netherlands with about 16,000 residents. It is located in the municipality of De Ronde Venen, about west of the main A2 motorway, between Utrecht and Amsterdam. The main street is the Dorpstraat, where most shops and ...

and

Vinkeveen Vinkeveen is a village in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is a part of the municipality of De Ronde Venen, and lies about 18 km south of Amsterdam. Vinkeveen used to be a separate municipality. It merged with Waverveen in 1841, to form t ...

. It is about twenty kilometres south of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

. Wilnis was a separate municipality until 1989.

History

It was first mentioned in 1185 as Wildenisse, and means wilderness. Wilnis started 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 village in the 12th century, and formed into a long

linear settlement A linear settlement is a (normally small to medium-sized) settlement or group of buildings that is formed in a long line. Many of these settlements are formed along a transport route, such as a road, river, or canal. Others form due to physical re ...

. In 1739, the tower of the Dutch Reformed Church collapsed. Between 1877 and 1878, a new church with tower was constructed. In 1840, the village was home to 1,041 people. New neighbourhoods have been built in the polder. The

grist mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...

De Veenmolen was built in 1823, but might be older. It continued in operation until 1947. It was restored between 1972 and 1973, and is occasionally used for grinding.

Gallery

File:Wilnis, Koningin Julianastraat 23, NH kerk - img 6307.jpg, Church of Wilnis File:3648 Wilnis, Netherlands - panoramio - Han Jongeneel (2).jpg, Farm in Wilnis File:De Spengense brug over het water de Geer naar de Geerkade.jpg, Draw bridge File:Paviljoen Toren De Grote Snip aan de Veenkade bij Wilnis.jpg, Tower De Grote Snip

References

Populated places in Utrecht (province) Former municipalities of Utrecht (province) De Ronde Venen {{Utrecht-geo-stub