Muiderslot

Het Muiderslot.
is a castel that found its beginning in 1280
At that time the Netherlands was not protected against the sea

The Netherlands is a delta area
below sea level and fully protected against the sea by dams, locks, dikes and ambankments
The river Donau which springs in Switserlandd finds its way all the way down to the North Sea through our country
The castle itself is situated not far away from the North Sea
The land where the castle is build on is now closed of from the sea by big locks
and a little further by a huge bridge / dike (Afsluitdijk)
because of that, our country got a fresh water lake, closed of from the Sea, which created new and different habitats for animals

You can read more about those embankment works on [link]

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Earl Floris the fifth started to build this castle.
through the years its been attact and damaged very badly
and used by the French army as barracks
in 1577 owned by William of Orange
years after that, owned by a famous writer and his freemasonry
Itis totaly rebuild in 1895 and now owned by the state of The netherlands as a national monument

inside is cold, dark and windy, long small spiral stairs
and you can see very well how thick the stone brick walls are
as we call it; armed til the teeth

for more info read this on wikipedia [link]

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Muiden.
close by this castle is a little town called Muiden
when The Netherlands was not protected against the sea this was a fisherman place
the houses there are very old
and under protection now of monumental care
people who live in those houses today (they have a lot of money) can still see the castle and have that beautiful view when they look out of their window

Pub.
In that town Muiden is a very old pub "ome Ko"
it is devoted to those old fisherman days and the sea
inside you'll taste an atmosphere that is very special and unique