Fort Vijfhuizen is one of forty-two forts in the

Defense Line of Amsterdam Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

(Dutch: ''stelling van Amsterdam''), a

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

. It is located in the town of

Vijfhuizen Vijfhuizen is a village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Haarlemmermeer, and lies about 4 km southeast of Haarlem. In January 2011, the town of Vijfhuizen had 4387 inhabitants. The built-up area of t ...

on the ''

ringvaart The Ringvaart (known in full as Ringvaart of the Haarlemmermeer Polder) is a canal in the province of North Holland, the Netherlands. The Ringvaart (Dutch meaning "ring canal") is a true circular canal surrounding the Haarlemmermeer polder an ...

'' which surrounds the

Haarlemmermeer Haarlemmermeer () is a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the west of the Netherlands, in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland. Haarlemmermeer is a polder, consisting of land reclaimed from water. The ...

polder. The main fort is currently maintained by a charitable foundation called ''Kunstfort Vijfhuizen'' which leases space for twelve artist studios and a restaurant. The fort is situated on a hill surrounded by a moat and accessible during opening hours. It was built in 1889 and 1890 with sand taken from the excavations for a new sluice-gate complex in

IJmuiden n IJ (digraph) and that should remain the only places where they are used. > IJmuiden () is a port town in the Netherlands, Dutch province of North Holland. It is the main town in the municipality of Velsen which lies mainly to the south-ea ...

.Fort bij Vijfhuizen
on Stelling van Amsterdam website On 3 May 1943 an American Ventura bomber crashed into the moat. South of this fort, also along the ''ringvaart'', is the first fore position of the fort, currently part of a golf course. A bit further south is yet another fore position at fort Cruquius, just south of the Cruquius Museum. File:Fort-vijfhuizen-geniedijk.jpg, View of the ''geniedijk'', looking southwest from fort Vijfhuizen File:Spotters-hill-bunkers-ringvaart.jpg, View of bunkers, representing fore position of fort Vijfhuizen File:Fort-cruquius.jpg, View of the road crossing the bunkers of fort Cruquius, the secondmost fore position of fort Vijfhuizen (seen from below the dike looking up towards the ringvaart. The trees are on the Heemstede side of the canal). File:Luchtfoto's - Vijfhuizen - 20242359 - RCE.jpg, Old aerial photo of the fort and surroundings along the ringvaart canal

References

External links

Rijksmonuments in Haarlemmermeer Tourist attractions in North Holland

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