Tiel () is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

and a town in the middle of the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. The town is enclosed by the

Waal WAAL (99.1 FM broadcasting, FM; "The Whale") is a commercial radio, commercial radio station licensed to Binghamton, New York. It airs a classic rock radio format and is owned by Townsquare Media. WAAL is the oldest FM radio station continuou ...

river and the Linge river to the South and the North, and the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal to the East. Tiel comprises the population centres Kapel-Avezaath, Tiel and Wadenoijen. The city was founded in the 5th century CE.

The town of Tiel

Tiel is the largest town in the

Betuwe Betuwe (), also known in English as Batavia ( ), is a historical and geographical region in the Netherlands, forming large fertile islands in the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, river delta formed by the waters of the Rhine (Dutch: ''Rijn'') and ...

area, which is famous for being one of the centres of Dutch fruit production. Orchards in the area produce

apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

pear Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in late summer into mid-autumn. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the Family (biology), family Rosaceae, bearing the Pome, po ...

plum A plum is a fruit of some species in Prunus subg. Prunus, ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'.'' Dried plums are often called prunes, though in the United States they may be labeled as 'dried plums', especially during the 21st century. Plums are ...

s and

cherries A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The name ...

. Tiel once housed the famous jam factory ''De Betuwe''. After production was moved to

Breda Breda ( , , , ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. ...

in 1993, the entire complex was demolished, although a part was reconstructed later. Reminding of this industry is a jam manufacturing museum and a statue of Flipje, the raspberry-based comic figure who starred in De Betuwe's, jam factory advertisements since the 1930s. Originally located on the Linge river Tiel became an important centre of trade in the early Middle Ages, especially after the demise of

Dorestad Dorestad (''Dorestat, Duristat'') was an early medieval emporium, located in the present-day province of Utrecht in the Netherlands, close to the modern-day town of Wijk bij Duurstede. It flourished during the 8th to early 9th centuries, as a ...

in the 9th century. Tiel had two big churches, one of which, the St. Walburg, was a

collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons, a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, headed by a dignitary bearing ...

that belonged to the

Teutonic Knights The Teutonic Order is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem was formed to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to t ...

and vanished after the Reformation while the other church, the St. Maarten, became Protestant. Much of the historic centre was destroyed during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Every year, on the third Saturday in September, a festival known as ''Fruitcorso'' is held to celebrate the fruit harvest from the Betuwe area. On this day, a parade of wagons, decorated with fruit, travels through the city. Appelpop is a free, two-day music event that is held yearly on the second Friday and Saturday of September. Tiel has also been known for its pewter industry. The last pewter factory and museum, which mainly produced collectibles for tourists, went bankrupt in early 2004, but has since been revived.

Ancient history

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

artifacts (Rings,

statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or Casting (metalworking), cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to ...

s, grave stones etc) have been found in Tiel. The "Stonehenge of the Netherlands" is an ancient site that is over 4,000 years old. The structure shows a similarity to

Stonehenge Stonehenge is a prehistoric Megalith, megalithic structure on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, to ...

in southern

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

; so it was dubbed "Stonehenge of the Netherlands" by the local media. It was used as a

burial mound Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

and for religious practices. It is located in Tiel, Netherlands, and its excavation started in 2017. According to the town's website, this was the first such discovery in the Netherlands. The mound contained remains of around 60 individuals. Three mounds were discovered; the main one is about 20 metres (65 ft) in diameter. Its passages align with the sun at equinoxes and solstices, and according to the archeologists it served as a

solar calendar A solar calendar is a calendar whose dates indicates the season or almost equivalently the apparent position of the Sun relative to the stars. The Gregorian calendar, widely accepted as a standard in the world, is an example of a solar calendar ...

. Around one million objects, dating from the

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

and throughout the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, have been found. The oldest artifacts can be traced back to 2500 BCE. One of the most interesting finds was a glass bead which is the oldest ever discovered in the

. The archeologists think it originated in

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

, modern day

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. The group assumes that the Bronze Age inhabitants of this area had contact with groups more than 3,000 miles away. The archaeologists also discovered offerings like animal

skeleton A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of most animals. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is a rigid outer shell that holds up an organism's shape; the endoskeleton, a rigid internal fra ...

s, human

skull The skull, or cranium, is typically a bony enclosure around the brain of a vertebrate. In some fish, and amphibians, the skull is of cartilage. The skull is at the head end of the vertebrate. In the human, the skull comprises two prominent ...

s and

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

spearheads.

Notable people

Public service

* Joan van der Capellen tot den Pol (1741–1784) statesman, active in the

Batavian Republic The Batavian Republic (; ) was the Succession of states, successor state to the Dutch Republic, Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on 19 January 1795 after the Batavian Revolution and ended on 5 June 1806, with the acce ...

* David Hendrik Chassé (1765–1849) soldier who fought both for and against Napoleon * Theodoor Gerard van Lidth de Jeude (1788–1863) physician, veterinarian and zoologist * Antonie Frederik Jan Floris Jacob van Omphal (1788–1863)

lieutenant-general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was normall ...

and extraordinary aide-de-camp to

William III of the Netherlands William III (Dutch language, Dutch: ''Willem Alexander Paul Frederik Lodewijk''; English: ''William Alexander Paul Frederick Louis''; 19 February 1817 – 23 November 1890) was King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg from 1849 until ...

* Cornelis Pijnacker Hordijk (1847–1908) jurist and politician,

Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies The governor-general of the Dutch East Indies (, ) represented Dutch rule in the Dutch East Indies between 1610 and Dutch recognition of the independence of Indonesia in 1949. Occupied by Japanese forces between 1942 and 1945, followed by the ...

1888/1893 * William Hendriksen (1900–1982) New Testament scholar and writer of Bible commentaries * Marinus van IJzendoorn (born 1952) human development professor, co-leader of Generation R Mary Dresselhuys

The arts

* Annie Foore (1847–1890) writer who lived in

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

* Mary Dresselhuys (1907–2004) stage actress * Eylem Aladogan (born 1975) installation artist and sculptor * Frans Duijts (born 1979) singer * Abdellah Dami (born 1982) journalist, presenter and writer * Corrie van Binsbergen (born 1957) jazzmusician and composer

Sport

* Herman Claudius van Riemsdijk (born 1948) chess player * Jan van Deinsen (born 1953) football player * Nico Rienks (born 1962) rower, two-time gold medallist at the 1988 and

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

* Anton Janssen (born 1963) football player * Wilma van Velsen (born 1964) swimmer and team bronze and silver medallist in the

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

and

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

* Dirk Jan Derksen (born 1972) football player * Bobbie Traksel (born 1981) racing cyclist * Erik Pieters (born 1988) football player * Barry Maguire (born 1989) football player * Mattijs Branderhorst (born 1993) football player

Gallery

File:Flipje Tiel.JPG, Statue of Flipje in Tiel File:Tiel, de Grote of Sint-Maartenskerk RM35568 IMG 3495 2018-05-20 11.48.jpg, Tiel, church: Sint Maartenskerk File:Tiel, de Waterpoort vanaf de Havendijk IMG 3481 2018-05-20 11.34.jpg, Town gate: Waterpoort File:Appelpop.jpg, Tiel, Appelpop on the Waalkade, Tiel File:Joods Monument.JPG, Jewish Monument, Tiel

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control Municipalities of Gelderland Populated places in Gelderland Cities in the Netherlands