Stiens is a town in the municipality of

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; fy, Ljouwert, longname=yes /; Town Frisian: ''Liwwadden''; Leeuwarder dialect: ''Leewarden'') is a city and municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 123,107 (2019). It is the provincial capital and seat of ...

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 ...

. As of January 2017, the town has a population of about 7,545. Between 1944 and 2018, it was the capital of the municipality of

Leeuwarderadeel Leeuwarderadeel (; fy, Ljouwerteradiel) is a former municipality in the northern Netherlands. Its capital was Stiens. History On 1 January 2018 it merged with the municipality of Leeuwarden. Population centres * Bartlehiem * Britsum * Cor ...

History

The village was first mentioned in the 13th century Steninge, and means settlement of the people of Stena (person). Staining in Lancashire, England has the same origin. Stiens 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 ...

'' (artificial living mound) village with a radial structure which developed before our era along the

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 ...

. There are additional ''terps'' to the north and south of the main ''terp'' on which the church was built. The western part of the main ''terp'' was later lost in floods. 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-typ ...

of the Dutch Reformed Church dates from around 1100. The tower dates from the 15th century and was restored in 1898. In 1840, Stiens was home to 1,617 people. In 1933, a monument was erected for

Pieter Jelles Troelstra Pieter Jelles Troelstra (20 April 1860 – 12 May 1930) was a Dutch lawyer, journalist and politician active in the socialist workers' movement. He is most remembered for his fight for universal suffrage and his failed call for revolution at th ...

, however it is not for his achievements as a politician, but as a poet. The capital of the municipality of

was the village of Huizum. In 1944, the southern part of the municipality including Huizum was annexed by

, and Stiens became the new capital of Leeuwarderadeel. Before 2018, the town was part of the

municipality. The town hall of the municipality was located in Stiens.

Railways

Stiens was the main station on the

North Friesland Railway The Noord-Friesche Locaalspoorweg-Maatschappij (North Friesland Railway) was a railway serving the sparsely populated north of the Dutch province of Friesland. It was operated by the North Friesland Local Railway Company (Dutch: ''Noord-Friesche L ...

. It opened in April 1901, with a branch to opening in stages between December 1902 and May 1904. Closures of the railway include the following * Direct service to

Franeker Franeker (; fry, Frjentsjer) is one of the eleven historical cities of Friesland and capital of the municipality of Waadhoeke. It is located north of the Van Harinxmakanaal and about 20 km west of Leeuwarden. As of 1 January 2014, it had 12 ...

in October 1933; * Direct service to Harlingen in May 1935 and freight in January 1938; * All other passenger services ceased in July 1936, but were reopened as far as

Tzummarum Tzummarum ( fry, Tsjummearum) is a village in Waadhoeke municipality in the province of Friesland, the Netherlands. It had a population of around 1,414 in January 2014. History The village was first mentioned in the 13th century as de Thumarentum, ...

and

Dokkum Dokkum is a Dutch fortified city in the municipality of Noardeast-Fryslân in the province of Friesland. It has 12,669 inhabitants (February 8, 2020). The fortifications of Dokkum are well preserved and are known as the ''bolwerken'' (bulwarks) ...

- Aalsum in May 1940; * The passenger service to Dokkum-Aalsum closed again in December 1940 and then it became permanently closed in October 1942; * The final freight service from Stiens to closed in 1997.

Windmills

There are three windmills in Stiens, including De Hoop, De Kleine Molen, and De Steenhuistermolen.

Notable people

* Abe Bonnema (1926-2001), architect * Piet Dankert (1934-2003), politician *

(1860-1930), politician

Gallery

File:De Hoop Molen Stiens 13.JPG, De Hoop File:Steenhuistermolen.jpg, Steenhuistermolen File:Stiens - Gemeentehuis Leeuwarderadeel.jpg, Former town hall File:Stiens 1974-1.jpg, Former railway station (1974) File:Stiens een dorpsgezicht..JPG, Street view File:Stiens niet ver van Leeuwarden..JPG, Houses in Stiens

References

External links

{{Authority control Leeuwarden Populated places in Friesland