Westflinge

History

The River Vlie (also called Fli), is an extension of the IJssel branch of the Rhine river. The river divides the northern Netherlands into two parts, the western and the eastern part. In the eleventh century, heavy rainfall caused the river to flood over large parts of the land. The Zuiderzee bay (previously a lake called Lacus Flevo by Roman authors) was formed, separating West Friesland from the contemporary province of Friesland. In the Middle Ages, the Westflinge area of West Friesland became an island, bordered on the north by the Medem and Zijpe inlets, and to the south by various interconnecting lakes (now polder land) that were connected with the Zuiderzee. Because of this, the toponym "West Friesland" was applied more to the Westflinge area than to the original West Friesland.