Piaam is a small village in the municipality of

Súdwest-Fryslân Southwest Friesland ( fy, Súdwest-Fryslân ) is a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Northern Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Friesland. It had a population of 84,092 in August 201 ...

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 50 in January 2017.

History

The village was first mentioned in the 13th century as Pyangum and means "settlement of Pada or Pya (person)". Piaam developed along the former

Zuiderzee The Zuiderzee or Zuider Zee (; old spelling ''Zuyderzee'' or ''Zuyder Zee'') was a shallow bay of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands, extending about 100 km (60 miles) inland and at most 50 km (30 miles) wide, with an ov ...

(nowadays

IJsselmeer The IJsselmeer (; fy, Iselmar, nds-nl, Iesselmeer), also known as Lake IJssel in English, is a closed off inland bay in the central Netherlands bordering the provinces of Flevoland, North Holland and Friesland. It covers an area of with an a ...

) coast near two lakes: Feitemeer and Parregaastermeer. The village is located on a dead-end street from the former sea dike. The Dutch Reformed church dates from the 13th century. In 1899, a

Christian Reformed Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρισ ...

church was built in the village. In 1969, it was decommissioned and has become a bird museum with a collection of over 200 birds that are native to the area. Piaam was home to 100 people in 1840. Between 1876 and 1879, the lakes were ''

polder A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as dikes. The three types of polder are: # Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a lake or the seabed # Flood plain ...

ed'' and named Polder Kooihuizen after the former duck decoys in the area. Before 2011, the village was part of the

Wûnseradiel Wûnseradiel () is a former municipality in the Friesland province of the northern Netherlands, at the eastern end of the ''Afsluitdijk''. The official (legal) name of the municipality is in the West Frisian language, though it is known as Wonsera ...

municipality.

Gallery

File:Daar hebben we Piaam gezien vanaf de dijk van het IJsselmeer.jpg, View on Piaam File:Een mooi hoekje in het oh zo mooie dorp Piaam.jpg, House in Piaam File:Piaam Dyksfeart.jpg, Piaam from the sea dike File:Boerderij in de kom van het dorp Piaam in Friesland.jpg, Farm in Piaam

References

External links

Súdwest-Fryslân Populated places in Friesland {{Friesland-geo-stub