Discover De Rijp: Village History, Churches and Eilandspolder

De Rijp is designated as a protected village landscape. When choosing a holiday apartment in De Rijp, you can therefore weigh up a culturally focused stay in the village against days spent in the countryside.

Historic Buildings and Churches

Raadhuis De Rijp was designed in 1630 by hydraulic engineer Jan Adriaanzn Leeghwater in the Dutch Renaissance style. The 17th-century De Rijp town hall bears a coat of arms featuring two crowned herrings. This gives both architectural history and local symbolism a concrete identity.

Churches with History and Special Details

The Grote Kerk De Rijp features 26 stained-glass windows; most date from the 17th century and together tell the story of the village. The historic organ in the Grote Kerk was built in 1854 by Bätz & Co. (Witte). The Hervormde Kerk in De Rijp has a simple Gothic nave from 1529, a Gothic transept and a five-sided choir dating from 1535 to 1538, as well as a similarly Gothic west tower from 1661. Next to the Grote Kerk stands a statue created by Elly Baltus for Weltevree, who is known in Korea as “Pak Yŏn Sang”.

Museum and Culture in a Historic Setting

At the Museum In 't Houten Huis, herring fishing, whaling and seafaring were explored through nautical charts, ship's journals and prints. The museum conveys the history of Schermereiland and its seafaring inhabitants. It is housed in a wooden building with an 18th-century timber structure.

De Groene Zwaan is a former Lutheran church in De Rijp that has been used as a cultural centre since the 1960s. Volunteers regularly organise concerts, cabaret, a literary café, clothing markets and film cafés there for a broad audience. Thus, alongside the older architectural history, the village also offers a diverse cultural programme.

Cycling Route, Eilandspolder and Water-Based Activities

The 18-kilometre cycling route “The Best Village in the Netherlands and More” passes through De Rijp and invites you to take a walk through the village with its Dutch stepped-gable houses, past the church with its stained-glass windows and the town hall with its weighing scales. In the Eilandspolder around De Rijp, visitors can go boating, stand-up paddleboarding or canoeing and watch birds along the way. Boerderij Schermereijlandt at Oostdijkje 7 in De Rijp rents whisper boats for up to four people and is committed to preserving and restoring the Eilandspolder Natura 2000 area on Schermereiland.

Orientation on Site

The VVV in De Rijp welcomes and informs visitors and offers information as well as guided tours of the village and the Land van Leeghwater. The VVV visitor centre is located on the ground floor of the former weighing area in Raadhuis De Rijp. The guided tours combine local history with the wider landscape of the Land van Leeghwater.

Other places for orientation: Graft, West Graftdijk.

For the higher-level travel overview: Graft-De Rijp.