We docked in Kinderdijk, the Netherlands, this morning. The day is chilly and somewhat overcast. We are taking a two hour walking tour of the windmills of Kinderdijk.
Our tour guide, Teo, is a retired civil engineer and one of two hundred volunteers who proudly escort visitors and locals alike.
The windmills are a world heritage site. Their purpose was to pump water from the low land to the high land and then out to the sea. Here are a few more photos of them.
Teo explained how the windmills work and about life as a miller and family living in one of them. Here are a few photos taken inside the windmill.
There are two different styles of windmills at Kinderdijk. One is built with brick . . .
. . . and the other with wood.
This exterior wooden structure enables the miller to turn the windmill to face the wind.
After our excursion into the heart of a windmill, we had an opportunity to stop in a small workshop to see some of the tools used in maintaining the mills. Here is one photo of a diagram of a windmill and another of some of the tools of the trade.
The windmills have been replaced with diesel pumps. Here is a photo of the screws that move the water.
Kinderdijk is living history and well worth the visit.
Interesting article. I moved to Delft 3 months ago. Will definitely put this place on my to-visit list! 🙂
It’s a must if you want to take a step back in history.
Thanks. I hope you enjoy the rest of the posts to come.