Bakel is a village east of
Helmond
Helmond (; called ''Hèllemond'' in the local dialect) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Metropoolregio Eindhoven of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of ...
and
Eindhoven
Eindhoven ( ; ) is a city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, located in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant, of which it is the largest municipality, and is also locat ...
in southern part of the
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
. The total population is approximately 5,000. Until 1997, it formed the municipality of
Bakel and Milheeze together with
Milheeze. In 1997 Bakel merged with the
Gemert
Gemert is a town in the Dutch province of North Brabant. It is located in the municipality of Gemert-Bakel.
Gemert was a separate municipality until 1997, when it merged with Bakel.
The spoken language is Peellands (an East Brabantian dialec ...
municipality.
Bakel does not have old buildings, with the exception of the 16th century St Willibrordus Church which is the oldest in the area. This church was modernized during the 1970s, but regained some of the original style of decoration during the 1990s.
The area surrounding Bakel is heavily forested; the agricultural economy is dominated by the bio industry. It has the highest pig density in the Netherlands.
History
The village was first mentioned in 715 as Bagoloso, which means "open forest on a ridge".
The St Willibrordus Church, built in the 16th century, was severely damaged by fire in 1708, and largely rebuilt in 1721.
Bakel was home to 277 people in 1840.
Gallery
File:Bakel Rijksmonument 518091 voorm. lagere school.JPG, School in Bakel
File:8594 Bakel Willibrordusmolen.jpg, Willibrordus mill
File:Bakel bibliotheek met sculptuur.JPG, Library with art
File:Gemertseweg, Bakel.jpg, Street view
References
Populated places in North Brabant
Gemert-Bakel
{{NorthBrabant-geo-stub