A new hiking route in the far north of the country is helping to connect visitors with rural communities and giving churches a new lease of life as B&Bs and art studios
A new hiking route in the far north of the country is helping to connect visitors with rural communities and giving churches a new lease of life as B&Bs and art studios
I’m in Eastrum to walk a segment of Het Ziltepad, or the Salt Path, a recently opened long-distance hiking trail that traverses the salt marshes of the sparsely populated northern Dutch provinces of Friesland and Groningen. Tracing the Wadden Sea coastline, the route invites hikers to explore local churches as a way to discover the region’s cultural heritage. If that sounds a little pious, fear not: ecclesiastical enthusiasm isn’t required.
When the church bell rings at 8.30am next day, I am still getting over my unsettled night, but I have a visitor. As part of a project inviting artists to use these churches as studios, Elisabeth Donkers has left large paper sketches scattered across the floorboards. On them, she has traced shadows cast by the arching windows. Like me, she seems captivated by the sunlight illuminating unseen details in the church.“It’s a place of wonder,” says Lisette Durkenkamp. “It’s a place of contemplation.
Over three days, I will cover 32 miles . The first 15-mile stretch, to Lauwersoog, takes me through agricultural land and reintroduced salt marsh, with visits to churches at Ie and Eanjum, before clambering up and along the eight-mile dyke that separates the Wadden Sea from the Lauwersmeer lake. The land is so flat I can see the spires of churches I have yet to visit. Sailors once used the church spires, each architecturally unique, as navigation aides.
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