!!!Naarden

by Oleg Gaponyuk,
Stas Sedov and Sergey Shandin,
members of the [AirPano Team|Geography/About/Consortium/AirPano,_Team] that is a member of the [global-geography Consortium|Geography/About/Consortium]. \\

5 February 2015

with kind permission of [AirPano|http://www.AirPano.com]

There are several places in Holland that are not much visited by
tourists. Being situated 20 kilometers from Amsterdam, Naarden is a
little quiet town which has a very interesting history. The town was
built in its present form in the 17th century after the French army had
been driven out. Previously, an old and dilapidated fortress was
situated in this place, so it was not that hard for the French to occupy
it. But the Dutchmen managed to bring back their lands with the help of
the sea. They flooded the lands which had been earlier reclaimed from
the water, so the French and their allies had to retreat.

[{Image src='01_Naarden, Netherlands.jpg' caption='Naarden, Netherlands' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='621'}]

Having gained back the town, the Dutchmen built a new fortress with
fortifications which met the military requirements of that time. In the
19th century they were additionally improved: barracks and bomb shelters
were created, the artillery might of the fortress was increased.

[{Image src='02_Naarden, Netherlands.jpg' caption='Naarden, Netherlands' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='563'}]

After the First World War Naarden lost its military importance and
became a kind of ‘monument-town', where a lot of ancient fortifications
remained well preserved. Nowadays one can take a walk around tunnels and
casemates of the ancient fortress or sail on a boat through the canal
which surrounds the defensive wall. The Old Town is not high, only the
belfry of The Great Church (Grote Kerk) is rising in the middle of it.
Comparing to Amsterdam, Naarden seems to be a rather quit town, even
sleepy. Its mighty bastions are surrounded by straight rows of trees,
the menacing cannons are laid on mowed lawns.

[{Image src='03_Naarden, Great Church (Grote Kerk).jpg' caption='Naarden, Great Church (Grote Kerk)' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='621'}]

We happened to come to Naarden on a gloomy day, which is so common for
Holland. The low-hanging grey sky was ready to break out with heavy
rain, so we hurried to lift our copter into the air and take several
photos. It is so quiet in this town, that the noise of our copter soon
spread over the territory and caught attention of local people. They
came up. The main problem photographers come across with in Holland is
the observance of privacy: you can do whatever you want, but you must
not touch upon the private life. So we explained that we were not going
to take photos of anyone personally, peep in at any window, and that we
just wanted to take several photos from above.

[{Image src='04_Naarden, Netherlands.jpg' caption='Naarden, Netherlands' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='615'}]

Then we made several panoramas at different levels. Even from the height
of the Great Church one can see the whole area of the Old Town. But our
copter gained more altitude, so that the contour of the bastion in a
form of a star, which is surrounded by the double circle of canals, can
be seen. The present day part of Naarden is beyond the scope of the old
fortress and almost unites the neighbouring town Bussum. To the north of
the town Lake Gooimeer sparkles. All these spectacular sceneries you can
see in our panoramas.

\\ \\
[4 Panoramas of Naarden|Geography/Europe/Netherlands/Pictures/Panoramas_of_Naarden]










[{SET customtitle='Naarden (AP)'}]         

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