Jorwert
Encyclopedia
Jorwert is a village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 in Friesland
Friesland
Friesland is a province in the north of the Netherlands and part of the ancient region of Frisia.Until the end of 1996, the province bore Friesland as its official name. In 1997 this Dutch name lost its official status to the Frisian Fryslân...

,in the municipality of Littenseradiel
Littenseradiel
Littenseradiel is a municipality in the northern Netherlands. In Dutch it's known as Littenseradeel.- Population centers :Baaium, Baard, Bears, Boazum, Britswert, Easterein, Easterlittens, Easterwierrum, Hidaard, Hilaard, Hinnaard, Húns, Iens, Itens, Jellum, Jorwert, Kûbaard, Leons, Lytsewierrum,...

, with a population of 360. The nickname for inhabitants of Jorwert is "Dweilstikken", meaning poor people who are dependent of rich ones. The village is built around a central "terp
Artificial dwelling hill
An artificial dwelling hill is a mound, created to provide safe ground during high tide and river floods....

", a man-made mound between 4 and 8 feet tall built to provide relief from the high tide
Tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the moon and the sun and the rotation of the Earth....

s of the sea before dykes were constructed around the 10th century.

Book

Dutch writer Geert Mak
Geert Mak
Geert Mak is a Dutch journalist and a non-fiction writer in the field of history. His ten books about Amsterdam, Netherlands and Europe have earned him great popularity. His best-known work, In Europe, a combination of a travelogue through the continent of Europe and a history of the 20th century,...

 used Jorwert as the hook for his book Jorwerd: The Death of the Village in late 20th century Europe (ISBN 1-86046-803-9) - though the Dutch title Hoe God verdween uit Jorwerd translates as How God disappeared from Jorwerd. Mak describes the changes that have affected the village over the last century, and writes eloquently about the people and their experiences.

Church

The centre of the village is the "Redbad church"
Protestant church of Jorwert
The Protestant church of Jorwert or Saint Radboud’s church is a medieval religious building in Jorwert, Friesland, Netherlands.It is a early 12th century Romanesque church with a long round closed choir and a late 12th century tower. The church is largely built of tuffstone. In 1951 the tower...

, which dates back to the 12th century. The church tower collapsed in 1951, but has since been rebuilt; the action to raise funds for the restoration included an open air play, which is still held every summer in the garden of the local notary.
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