Zaanse Schans, Historic village and open-air museum in Zaandam, Netherlands.
Zaanse Schans is a neighborhood and open-air museum in the Zaanstad area, north of Amsterdam. The green wooden houses line narrow paths along the river bank, surrounded by eight large windmills that turn when the wind blows.
From 1961 onwards, houses and workshops from different locations in the Zaanstreek region were moved here to recreate a settlement in the style of the 18th and 19th centuries. The area was once a major center of the windmill industry in the Netherlands, where over a thousand mills sawed timber, pressed oil and produced paint.
The workshops demonstrate daily how wooden shoes are carved and cheese is made by hand, allowing visitors to follow the working steps. Inside the mills, operators still grind spices, mustard and paint using methods known here for centuries.
A walk along the paths and through the buildings usually takes two to three hours, with the mills and workshops accessible for an entrance fee. The grounds are mostly flat and easy to navigate, with signposted paths between attractions that can be explored on your own.
Only two of the eight visible mills still stand in their original locations, while the others were relocated here from different parts of the region. In winter, when ice covers the river, the mill wheels often rest silent because the cold freezes the water and blocks the drive.
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