Wijk bij Duurstede Attractions

The settlement of Wijk bij Duurstede grew up around a castle built here in the 13th century. During the Middle Ages this was a residence of the bishops of Utrecht, the most famous of whom was Bishop David of Burgundy (15th C.), who gathered many of the leading figures of the day around him. In the early 18th century the castle fell into ruin, and there now remain only a few fragments of walls, a square keep and a round corner tower (15th C.) with a diameter of 15m/50ft.

West of Wijk bij Duurstede, on the Lek, lies Culemborg. The town, which received its municipal charter in 1318, contains many buildings which are now protected as national monuments, like the Grote Kerk (St Barbarakerk), the Town Hall and St Elisabethsweeshuis (St Elizabeth's Orphanage). Part of the old fortifications was converted into a park in the first half of the 19th century.

There are walls that enclose Culemborg with moat-like canals that encircle the exterior. The canals also divide the town into three sections.

The Markt, in the center of the old town, is dominated by the Grote Kerk (14th C.; unfinished), a cruciform basilica the great size of which no doubt shows the influence of the bishops of Utrecht. The massive tower is richly articulated, with balustrades, buttresses and deep niches.

The Town Hall (Stadhuis), a sober building with a high entrance staircase, was built by Gijsbert van Vianen and Peter van Cooten (1666).

In addition to some remains of walls Wijk has preserved one of the town gates, the Rijnmolenpoort, on which is the Rijn en Lek windmill, a flour mill built in 1659. In spite of appearances, however, this is not the windmill depicted in Jacob van Ruisdael's painting "Windmill at Wijk bij Duurstede" (now in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam), which stood some 200m/220yd farther west.