Jaap van 't Veen's photos with the keyword: island

Patmos is inhabited since 3000 BC, but the identity of its first inhabitants is still unknown. Finds have excavated various buildings, cemeteries, fortresses, and evidence of an ancient acropolis, testifying the existence of a densely populated area in the past. Patmos declined when the Romans conquered it. It was used as a place of exile for convicts. This is how Apostle John came to Patmos. He conveyed the inhabitants to Christianity and wrote the Book of Revelation, the Apocalypse. Patmos then became a place of worshipping and pilgrimage and actually. During the Byzantine times, the inhabitants of Patmos built a Grand Royal Basilica in honor of Saint John. During the Arab raids from the 6th to the 9th century the basilica was destroyed. In 1101 the construction of the Monastery of Saint John the Theologian started. The fame of the monastery grew and a settlement started to expend around it. During the end of the 12th century, the island of Patmos was transformed into a large commercial center. In 1522, the Turks came to the island; after a while, they left the island, which they just forced to pay some taxes. When the Turkish-Venetian Wars ended, tranquillity returned to Patmos and the island flourished, becoming once again an important commercial center. Massive fortifications were built around the monastery as a protection from the pirates. In 1655, Patmos was governed by the monks and prospered again. Its growth stopped in 1659, when the Venetians, conquered and destroyed the island of Patmos. With shipping, commerce and the efforts of the inhabitants, Patmos regained its lost nobility, glamour and prosperity. The Russians conquered the island in 1770, after the Turkish-Venetian War. The Greek Revolution started in 1821 and managed to gain the independence of Greece in 1832. The treaty signed in London did not include the islands of the Dodecanese as part of the newly built Greek State and therefore fell again under Turkish occupation. The Italians occupied all the islands of the Dodecanese in 1912, with of course Patmos, and remained there until 1943, when the Germans took over the island. In 1945, the Germans left and the island of Patmos remained autonomous until 1948 when it joined the rest of independent Greece with the rest of the Dodecanese Islands. In 1981, Greece declared Patmos a “Sacred Island'', and in 1999 UNESCO included The Historic Centre (Chora) with the Monastery of Saint John the Theologian and the Cave of the Apocalypse in its World Heritage Site List. Patmos is also part of the COESIMA network, as one of the seven most important pilgrimage sites in Europe.

Schokland - the first UNESCO world heritage site in the Netherlands - is an island in the polder landscape of the Noordoostpolder. The island is 4 kilometres long and 300-500 metres wide. In the past Schokland was located in the middle of the former Zuiderzee, which washed away large parts of the island during storms. People lived there - from prehistoric times and the Middle Ages until modern times - in spite of the threatening water and the poverty. Until around 1450, Schokland was not, in fact, an island but a swampy peatland with a few dry hills here and there. The whole area around Schokland was probably prepared for agriculture even before the 14th century. When the rising water washed away large pieces of the peatland, it became a peninsula. Schokland only became a real island when the (former) Zuiderzee swallowed up the last piece. People were already living on Schokland 12.000 years ago. They lived there as hunter-gatherers and fishermen. During the Middle Ages there were mainly farmers here who kept cattle and grew cereal crops. From the 12th century inhabitants lived on terpen (man-made mounds). At high tide or during a storm tide these hills were the only safe places on the island. During the 17th century, agriculture declined because of the loss of land to the sea. Trade, shipping and fishing became more and more important. In 1859, the islanders lost their battle against the water for good. The Dutch government decided that the inhabitants had to leave the island. Not only because of the continuing danger of floods, but also because of the poverty. Around 635 Schokkers moved to the mainland. Schokland remained in existence, but in 1942 - following the reclamation of the Noordoostpolder - it became an island on dry land. The Waterstaatskerk (also called Enserkerk ) was built in 1834 by the Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management, as a replacement for a small square church that had stood on this site until that time. This square building was so badly damaged by a storm in 1825 that it had to be demolished. The church served until the evacuation of Schokland. After that, it was used as a warehouse and sleeping place for seasonal workers. Nowadays this church - a national monument - is part of the Museum Schokland and is also used for weddings and classical concerts.

The lighthouse on Texel - officially Eierland Vuurtoren (Lighthouse Eierland) - is named after the island of Eierland, on of the two former islands, which were merged together to present island of Texel. The lighthouse is surrounded by a vast dune area, called Eierlandse Duinen and is located on the most northern point of Texel. The lighthouse was built in 1864 after some civilians of Texel attended on the dangers of the waters between Texel and the island of Vlieland (72 ships had wrecked between 1848 and 1860). The tower itself is 37,4 metres high. During the uprising of the Georgians in World War II - they barricaded themselves in the tower - the lighthouse was heavily damaged and had to be ‘rebuilt’. In 1950 it was lighted again. As said the tower is surrounded by a scenic dune area on the mainland side and a very wide beach (especially at low tide). It is a very pleasant walking clockwise ‘around’ the tower from the car park at the end of the ‘Vuurtorenweg’. After finishing your walk have a drink or snack in ‘Torenrestaurant' with great views of the beach and ‘of course’ the sturdy bright red lighthouse. The lighthouse can be visited; from the top one has spectacular views of the North - and Wadden Sea and the nearby island of Vlieland.

Spinalonga (officially known as Kalydon) is an arid and barren rocky islet lying at the mouth of the natural port of Elounda and opposite to the village of Plaka. From the year of 1204 Crete was ruled by the Republic of Venice. To protect the port of Elounda against the Ottomans they built a large fortress on Spinalonga in the late 16th century. Crete was conquered in 1669 by the Ottoman Turks, but Spinalonga remained Venetian until the year of 1715. After that, the island was occupied by the Ottomans. In 1903 the last Turks left the island and Spinalonga was subsequently used as a leper colony till 1957. Approximately 400 people inhabited the island over the half-century. Today, the uninhabited island is a popular tourist attraction in Crete. The island can easily be accessed from Plaka, Elounda and Agios Nikolaos.

The little white Reformed Church of Den Hoorn, built in 1425, is the most photographed church of Texel. The church became its tower 25 years later, which functioned moreover, as a beacon for the shipping traffic. Even nowadays there is signal at the tower of the church.

Windmill Het Noorden is an octagonal smock mill, which was built in 1878. The mill was used to drain the polder of the same name, in the northeastern part of the island of Texel. Later the need arose for a more powerful drainage system and a pumping station running on oil was added. The windmill became more and more out of operation and was shut down in 1923. The mill was repaired in 1928, but was definitively decommissioned in the 1960s for the drainage of the polder. In September 2017 the Vereniging Natuurmonumenten (Society for Preservation of Nature Monuments in the Netherlands) became the owner of the windmill, after which a thorough restoration took place. Windmill Het Noorden - an iconic building on the edge of the polder - is currently once again in use by volunteers.

Schokland - a UNESCO world heritage site - with the church of the island, seen from the polder with lots of common dandelions.