Blessum is a small village in

Waadhoeke Waadhoeke is a municipality of Friesland in the northern Netherlands. It was established 1 January 2018 and consists of the former municipalities of Franekeradeel, het Bildt, Menameradiel and parts of Littenseradiel, all four of which were dis ...

municipality in the province of

Friesland Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. It had a population of around 89 in January 2017. Before 2018, the village was part of the

Menameradiel Menameradiel (; nl, Menaldumadeel ) is a former municipality in Friesland, Netherlands. On 1 January 2018 it merged with the municipalities of Franekeradeel, het Bildt and parts of Littenseradiel to form the new municipality Waadhoeke. Populatio ...

municipality.

History

The village was first mentioned between 1250 and 1275 as Blesingum, and means "settlement of the people of Blesse (person)". Blessum is a ''

terp A ''terp'', also known as a ''wierde, woerd, warf, warft, werf, werve, wurt'' or ''værft'', is an artificial dwelling mound found on the North European Plain that has been created to provide safe ground during storm surges, high tides an ...

'' (artificial living hill) village from the early Middle Ages, and was known to be inhabited in the 9th century. It was located along the former

Middelzee The Middelzee (Dutch for "middle sea"; fry, Middelsee), also called Bordine, was the estuary mouth of the River Boorne (West Frisian: ''Boarn'') now in the Dutch province of Friesland. It ran from as far south as Sneek northward to the Wadden S ...

, and had a little harbour. The Dutch Reformed church was built by monks around 1250, and was modified in the 15th century. The tower is from the 13th or 14th century and was restored in 1879. Nowadays, it is only used 8 times a year as church, and its main purpose is village house and bed and breakfast. The Ringia State was built before 1469 by Doecke Rinia, the local judge. It was demolished in 1823 and replaced by a farm. Blessum was home to 169 people in 1840. Ironically, Blessum has become more isolated due to the nearby construction of railway lines and motorways, because it is nowadays located at a dead-end road. During World War II, it was home to many ''onderduikers'' (people in hiding). There was a constant watch from the church tower and a silent alarm was given when people approached the village.

Gallery

File:Blessum, Mariatsjerke, ynterieur eastlike rjochting.jpg, Interior of the church File:Blessum - pleats en Marijetsjerke.jpg, View on Blessum File:Blessum.jpg, Welcome to Blessum File:Blessum, Buorren 3 (ryksmonumint).jpg, Farm in Blessum

References

{{Authority control Waadhoeke Populated places in Friesland