This weekend, the former carpentry factory of the Society of Benevolence is central to Frederiksoord, part of the UNESCO World Heritage of the Colonies of Benevolence. In this national monument, where wood was once worked for the colony, the Bijenhoff is now located. The nature park links history and nature experience in a surprising way.
Visitors can wander through a unique maze that even got the National Geographic, or with children walking the Natuurpad where everything revolves around the role of the bee in our ecosystem. During Heritage Day there are special tours and even a ‘bee safari’, in which guides not only tell about the meaning of bees, but also about the history of the carpentry factory and its place in society of beneficency. While the flower parade is passing by in the village, the factory simply remains accessible to the public. A great opportunity to combine culture and nature. Only accessible on Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Open Monumentendag is not just about admiring old buildings. It is also about the stories that hide behind those walls. About former residents, about craftsmanship and about the role that a monument played in society and sometimes still plays. This makes the past tangible and gets a place in the now.
The examples above are just a selection of the Drenthe offer. Spread throughout the province, dozens of monuments open their doors: from church towers to mills and from farms to industrial heritage locations. The full program can be found via the Open Monumentendag website. One thing is certain: anyone who goes out this weekend will discover that Drenthe is full of monumental surprises.