Britsum is a village in the municipality of

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; ; ; ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 127,073 (2023). It is the provincial capital and seat of the Provin ...

(province of

Friesland Friesland ( ; ; official ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia (), named after the Frisians, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen (p ...

), in 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 ...

. Britsum was built on an artificial bank (''

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 and ...

'') running along the eastern side of the former ''

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

''. The church, built around 1300, is also located on this bank. It had a population of about 910 citizens in January 2017.

History

It was first mentioned in 944 as Bruggiheim, and means "settlement near a bridge". Britsum is a ''

'' (artificial living mound) village with a radial structure. It dates from the early middle ages and was built near the

. A large part of the mound was excavated around 1900. The western side of the Dutch Reformed church dates between 1180 and 1200. The

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

date between 1240 and 1260. The church received its present shape in 1875. In 1840, Britsum was home to 326 people. Britsum was served by a station on the

North Friesland Railway The Noord-Friesche Locaalspoorweg-Maatschappij (North Friesland Railway) was a railway serving the sparsely populated province of Friesland in northern Netherlands. Operated by the North Friesland Local Railway Company (Dutch: ''Noord-Friesche Loc ...

which opened in 1901 and closed to passengers in December 1940. The line finally closed in 1997. Before 2018, the village was part of the Leeuwarderadeel municipality.

Gallery

File:De âlde skoalle oan de Greate Buorren yn Britsum.JPG, Former school building File:Voorgevel nr. L 156 - Britsum - 20476696 - RCE.jpg, Farm in Britsum

Notable people

Joost Klein Joost Klein (; born 10 November 1997), also known mononymously as Joost, is a Dutch musician, rapper, singer, and former YouTuber. Mainly a hip hop artist, his songs and performances often include influences of electronic music, such as drum a ...

(born 1997), musician, Dutch entrant in the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest

References

External links

{{Authority control Leeuwarden Populated places in Friesland