Fort of Edam
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Can you see the sloping hill on your left, surrounded by water? This is Fort Edam, the north-eastern point of the Defence Line of Amsterdam.
As you can see, the fort is absolutely inconspicuous. With its pollard willows and reedy fringes it looks more like a small lake around an old mound. Edam’s fort blends extremely well into the landscape. And that was precisely the intention of its builders. They didn’t want enemies to spot this bastion until it was too late. Late enough, in fact, that they were already within range of the cannons.
Under the hill in the distance, an entire military power base sheltered around a hundred years ago. With five cannons, nine machine guns and space for 225 soldiers. Naturally complete with dormitories, kitchens and ammunition depots. The fort continued to be restricted military terrain until 1986. As a result nature was allowed to continue undisturbed in this varied area with water, marsh, hills and trees. This fortification, just like all the forts in the Line, was also built on fertile sandy soil, because the swampy peat bog could not support the concrete foundations. This is also the reason behind the luxuriant nature around the forts. Today the Fort of Edam is also a protected nature reserve. Thanks to its sheltered location it’s an ideal breeding ground for migrating birds. And it hosts many different types of animals and fish.
The fort is one of the best-preserved fortifications in the Defence Line of Amsterdam.
On Sundays between twelve and four in the afternoon you can view the fort from the inside. Not only the fort terrain itself, but the polders surrounding it have also changed little in the past centuries. It is still open terrain which can be flooded, the so-called inundation area. Would you like to learn more about how this grassland inundation works? Then view the video from the menu.
As you can see, the fort is absolutely inconspicuous. With its pollard willows and reedy fringes it looks more like a small lake around an old mound. Edam’s fort blends extremely well into the landscape. And that was precisely the intention of its builders. They didn’t want enemies to spot this bastion until it was too late. Late enough, in fact, that they were already within range of the cannons.
Under the hill in the distance, an entire military power base sheltered around a hundred years ago. With five cannons, nine machine guns and space for 225 soldiers. Naturally complete with dormitories, kitchens and ammunition depots. The fort continued to be restricted military terrain until 1986. As a result nature was allowed to continue undisturbed in this varied area with water, marsh, hills and trees. This fortification, just like all the forts in the Line, was also built on fertile sandy soil, because the swampy peat bog could not support the concrete foundations. This is also the reason behind the luxuriant nature around the forts. Today the Fort of Edam is also a protected nature reserve. Thanks to its sheltered location it’s an ideal breeding ground for migrating birds. And it hosts many different types of animals and fish.
The fort is one of the best-preserved fortifications in the Defence Line of Amsterdam.
On Sundays between twelve and four in the afternoon you can view the fort from the inside. Not only the fort terrain itself, but the polders surrounding it have also changed little in the past centuries. It is still open terrain which can be flooded, the so-called inundation area. Would you like to learn more about how this grassland inundation works? Then view the video from the menu.
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