Lelystad (pronunciation ▶ (help· info)) is a municipality and a city in the centre of the Netherlands, and it is the capital of the province of Flevoland. The city, built on reclaimed land, was founded in 1951 and was named after Cornelis Lely, who engineered the Afsluitdijk, making the reclaiming possible. Lelystad is approximately 5 meters (16 feet) below sealevel. The modern day Netherlands are divided into twelve provinces (provincies in Dutch), listed below with their capital city: Map of the Netherlands, with provinces and capital cities See also the ranked list of Dutch provinces // Structure A Dutch province represents the administrative layer in between the national government and the... Flevoland is a province of the Netherlands. ... Area is a physical quantity expressing the size of a part of a surface. ... Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. ... Image File history File links Nl-Lelystad. ... A municipality or general-purpose district (compare with: special-purpose district) is an administrative local area generally composed of a clearly defined territory and commonly referring to a city, town, or village government. ... Montreal skyline at night For alternate meanings see city (disambiguation) A city is an urban area that is differentiated from a town, village, or hamlet by size, population density, importance, or legal status. ... In politics, a capital (also called capital city or political capital — although the latter phrase has an alternative meaning based on an alternative meaning of capital) is the principal city or town associated with its government. ... This article is about political regions. ... Flevoland is a province of the Netherlands. ... 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... Cornelis Lely (1854-1929) was a Dutch civil engineer and statesman. ... Afsluitdijk The Afsluitdijk (Closure-dike) is a major dam in the Netherlands, constructed between 1927 and 1933 and running from Den Oever on Wieringen in North Holland province, to the village of Zurich (mun. ...

Landscape

Lelystad is area-wise the largest municipality in the Netherlands. A big part of that area is water: Markermeer and IJsselmeer. Another major area is the internationally famous nature park Oostvaardersplassen, which spontaneously grew when the polder of South Flevoland was drained. Lelystad is also surrounded by a square of woodlands and parks and flat farmland. The location of the city makes weather and skies especially beautiful. The importance of the landscape and sky is emphasized by several pieces of land art: engineers' work and arts like the Observatorium by Robert Morris (see below). View across the Markermeer The Markermeer (Lake Marken) is a 700 km² lake in the central Netherlands in between North Holland, Flevoland and its larger sibling, the IJsselmeer. ... IJsselmeer seen from space The IJsselmeer (or Lake IJssel) is a shallow lake of some 1250 km² in the central Netherlands bordering the provinces of Flevoland, North Holland and Friesland, with an average depth of 5 to 6 m. ... The Oostvaarderplassen is a nature reserve in the Netherlands. ... Land art or earth art is a form of art which came to prominence in the late 1960s and 1970s primarily concerned with the natural environment. ...

Tourism

Lelystad has several tourist attractions like:

• The replica of the 17th-century ship Batavia at the Batavia Shipyard.
• Batavia Stad outlet shopping center
• Hanzestad Compagnie a fleet of historical sailingships
• Nature Park Lelystad
• National Aviation Theme Park Aviodrome

Lelystad has many one-day events like the Airshow Lelystad, the Waterfestival, the National oldtimerday, speedwayraces, Architecture day and several sports events. On the Midland Circuit many motor-, karting- and stockcar-races and several autoclub meetings are held. And at the coast there are several marinas where you can rent a sailingyacht, for example to compete in one of many sailing competitions. The replica of the Batavia The Batavia was a ship of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) which was built in 1628 in Amsterdam, which was struck by mutiny and wreckage during her maiden voyage, upon which a drama folowed. ... A kart racer takes a turn on an indoor track Kart racing (as the word is so spelled by enthusiasts) or karting is a variant of open-wheeler motor sport with simple, small four-wheeled vehicles called karts, go-karts, or gearbox/shifter karts depending on the design. ...

Infrastructure

Lelystad has a good infrastructure. Lelystad can be reached by by air, water, and land.

• air: Lelystad business airport is a small satellite of the national airport Schiphol.
• water: Lelystad has its own inland port, several marinas and canals that also help to manage the waterlevels in the polder. One of these lakes is called Zuigerplas, which means "Sucker-lake": it is so named because it is in a hollow that was made by a suction dredger taking sand from the wrong place; near it is a wood called Zuigerplasbos.
• rail: Station Lelystad Centrum connects the city with Almere and Amsterdam/Utrecht. The so-called Hanzelijn is an extention of this line towards Kampen and Zwolle.
• motorway: at the eastern side of Lelystad runs the A6 highway from Amsterdam to the North. Through Lelystad the west-to-east N302 runs from Hoorn to Kootwijk.

Air Traffic Control Towers (ATCTs) at Schiphol Airport Schiphol (municipality Haarlemmermeer) is the Netherlands main airport. ... Seaport, a painting by Claude Lorrain, 1638 The Port of Wellington at night. ... For other uses of this word, see Marina (disambiguation). ... Satellite image of Noordoostpolder, Netherlands A polder is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as dikes. ... Dredging is the process by which either new waterways are created or existing waterways are deepened. ... A tree trunk as found at the Veluwe, The Netherlands Wood derives from woody plants, notably trees but also shrubs. ... Passengers bustle around the typical grand edifice of Londons Broad Street station in 1865. ... Almere is a municipality in the central Netherlands, a polder reclaimed from IJsselmeer . ... Amsterdam Location Country The Netherlands Province North Holland Population 739,298 (1 January 2005) Coordinates 52°22′N 4°54′E Website www. ... Utrecht is a municipality and the capital city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. ... Kampen is a municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands. ... For other places named Zwolle, see Zwolle (disambiguation). ... Hoorn is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. ...

Shield & Flag

The honeycomb grid in the arms of Lelystad pictures the dikes, built with six-edged concrete or basalt blocks. The color gold indicates the high costs of the project of making the polder. The center shield is the arms of engineer Cornelis Lely. The sealions reflect the history of the land. Image File history File links Shield-lelystad. ... Image File history File links Vlag-lelystad. ... Look up engineer in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Cornelis Lely (1854-1929) was a Dutch civil engineer and statesman. ...

In the flag, again the lily takes a central point, referring to the name Lely. The yellow (golden) background reflect the precious land, and the blue lines the dikes and waterways.

History

Lelystad is built on the seabottom of the former Zuiderzee. About 6500 years ago this wetland was above high tide llevel and inhabited; the Netherlands has steadily subsided since. Nearby Lelystad at Swifterbant the oldest human skeletons in Western Europe were discovered. Due to rising water levels and storms the peatlands were washed away, and the Lacus Flevo (Roman times) grew to be the Almere (middle ages) and became the Zuiderzee, whose name means "Southern Sea". The Zuiderzee was the main transport-route from Amsterdam to the North Sea and the Hanze-cities. Thanks to the many shipwrecks in Flevoland, Lelystad now houses the National Centre for Maritime History, with a museum and the shipyard that has built the Batavia. Landsat photo The Zuider Zee (Dutch: Zuiderzee, pronounced ZIGH-der-zee) was a former shallow inlet of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands, extending about 100 km inland and at most 50 km wide, with an overall depth of about 4 to 5 meters and a coastline... A human skeleton The human skeleton is made of bones, some of them joined together, supported and supplemented by a structure of ligaments, tendons, muscles, and cartilage. ... 838 December 26: A large part of the northwest of the Netherlands was flooded by a storm. ... Peat in Lewis, Scotland Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetable matter. ... Almere is a municipality in the central Netherlands, a polder reclaimed from IJsselmeer . ... Landsat photo The Zuider Zee (Dutch: Zuiderzee, pronounced ZIGH-der-zee) was a former shallow inlet of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands, extending about 100 km inland and at most 50 km wide, with an overall depth of about 4 to 5 meters and a coastline... Amsterdam Location Country The Netherlands Province North Holland Population 739,298 (1 January 2005) Coordinates 52°22′N 4°54′E Website www. ... The North Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, located between the coasts of Norway and Denmark in the east, the coast of the British Isles in the west, and the German, Dutch, Belgian and French coasts in the south. ... The Hanseatic League (German: die Hanse, Dutch: de Hanze) was an alliance of trading cities that established and maintained a trade monopoly over the Baltic Sea and most of Northern Europe for a time in the later Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, between the 13th and 17th century. ... In British usage, a shipwreck is the remains of a ship after it has sunk or been beached as a result of a crisis at sea. ... History studies the past in human terms. ... A museum is typically a non-profit, permanent institution in the service of society and of its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits, for purposes of study, education enjoyment, the tangible and intangible evidence of people and their environment. ... Small shipyard in Klaksvík (Faroe Islands), reparing fishing vessels Dockyards and shipyards are places which repair and build ships. ... The replica of the Batavia The Batavia was a ship of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) which was built in 1628 in Amsterdam, which was struck by mutiny and wreckage during her maiden voyage, upon which a drama folowed. ...

After World War II the Zuiderzee Works continued by making the polder of Eastern Flevoland. In 1950 work commenced on several construction-islands in the middle of the IJsselmeer. Lelystad-Haven was the largest island, and its wooden barracks housed a community of dike-builders. In 1955 they reached the mainland, which made it possible to drive to Lelystad by car. One of the three pumping stations which drained the polder in June 1957 was the diesel powered Wortman in Lelystad-Haven. Until 1967 the only inhabitants of Lelystad were technical engineers and workmen and superintendents, living on the former construction-island. The 32 km long Afsluitdijk separates the IJsselmeer from the North Sea, protecting thousands of km² of land. ... Satellite image of Noordoostpolder, Netherlands A polder is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as dikes. ... IJsselmeer seen from space The IJsselmeer (or Lake IJssel) is a shallow lake of some 1250 km² in the central Netherlands bordering the provinces of Flevoland, North Holland and Friesland, with an average depth of 5 to 6 m. ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Look up engineer in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

For more information on Lelystad's history, you can visit the Nieuw Land Heritage Centre.

Future

As mentioned above, the Hanzelijn project is a planned railway line from Lelystad to Dronten, Kampen and Zwolle. Dronten is a municipality and a town in the central Netherlands. ... Kampen is a municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands. ... For other places named Zwolle, see Zwolle (disambiguation). ...

The Zuiderzeelijn is a railway study-project which could connect Lelystad with Emmeloord, Heerenveen and Groningen. In one variation the Zuiderzeelijn would be a magnetic levitation train line providing a faster connection between Amsterdam and Groningen. Another, more realistic variation would be a 'normal', electrified train track allowing speeds up to 200 km/h. Emmeloord is the administrative center of the polder and the municipality of Noordoostpolder, Flevoland, Netherlands. ... Heerenveen (Frisian: It Hearrenfean) is a municipality and a town in the province of Friesland, in the north of the Netherlands. ... Groningen is a municipality and city in the north of the Netherlands, and capital of Groningen province. ... Transrapid at the Emsland test facility Transrapid maglev in Shanghai Magnetic levitation transport, or maglev, is a radically new form of transportation that suspends, guides and propels vehicles via electro-magnetic energy. ... Amsterdam Location Country The Netherlands Province North Holland Population 739,298 (1 January 2005) Coordinates 52°22′N 4°54′E Website www. ... Groningen is a municipality and city in the north of the Netherlands, and capital of Groningen province. ...

Other plans for the near future include the development of the coastal area (Lelystad borders both the Markermeer and the IJsselmeer) for touristic and commercial purposes. View across the Markermeer The Markermeer (Lake Marken) is a 700 km² lake in the central Netherlands in between North Holland, Flevoland and its larger sibling, the IJsselmeer. ... IJsselmeer seen from space The IJsselmeer (or Lake IJssel) is a shallow lake of some 1250 km² in the central Netherlands bordering the provinces of Flevoland, North Holland and Friesland, with an average depth of 5 to 6 m. ...

External links

• Photopages:
  • views from the dikes,
  • landscape
  • Houtribsluizen
  • Robert Morris's Observatorium
• Detailed Cito-plan map
• City Flag
• Satellite view, Google maps

Flevoland Province
Almere | Dronten | Lelystad | Noordoostpolder | Urk | Zeewolde Flevoland is a province of the Netherlands. ... Flag of Flevoland (from Dutch Wikipedia) File links The following pages link to this file: Lelystad Dronten Noordoostpolder Almere Urk Zeewolde Template:Province Flevoland Categories: Flag images ... Almere is a municipality in the central Netherlands, a polder reclaimed from IJsselmeer . ... Dronten is a municipality and a town in the central Netherlands. ... Noordoostpolder is a municipality in the Flevoland province in the central Netherlands. ... Urk is a municipality and a town in the Flevoland province in the central Netherlands. ... Zeewolde is a municipality and a town in the central Netherlands. ...
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