اختبار ذكاء عالمي

Thump-thump. Thump-thump. The sound drew me down the gravel path toward the windmills along the Zaan River. There are five working windmills in the village of Zaanse Schans: a paint and dye mill, two sawmills, and two oil mills. These working windmills are part of a remaining 13, though once upon a time there were over 1000 in the Zaan area. The people that had lived along the banks of the Zaan River had gotten rich from trade and fishing and built their first windmills around 1600. The windmills produced everything from barley and rice to paper, wood, cooking oil, and even tobacco and hemp.

De Kat Mill

The thump-thumping got louder as I approached the first windmill and wandered in. The windmill is a paint and dye mill called De Kat and was built between 1646 and 1696. It unfortunately burned to the ground, but was quickly rebuilt in 1782. Believed to be the only remaining mill of its kind, the mill grinds raw materials to make pigments for paints.

The grindstone crushing chalk

On the ground floor, I could see the huge grind stones crushing the chalk. The grindstones are driven by the windmill. As I watched the materials being ground and ducked every so often as the huge machine rotated around, I understood the sign warning “Your visit to this windmill is at your own risk.”

The cogs that power the grindstone

I climbed the narrow and steep ladder up to the second level. Here I had a direct view of the huge wooden cogs that turn, transferring the wind energy down to the grindstone. The wooden floor seemed almost rickety as it creaked and shook from the cogs turning.

Another narrow ladder led up to a tiny door and I emerged outside onto the platform encircling the mill. Stepping onto this platform is not for those with a fear of heights! Wooden planks were nailed a few inches apart and even I dared not to look down to the river running below as I inched my way along the platform. I watched the sails of the windmill complete their revolution, moving a little quicker as the wind picked up.

I had visited a windmill selling baking supplies a few days earlier in Grosbeek, but it had long since been retired. I never thought it would be possible to visit a working windmill and it was fascinating! Zaanse Schans was absolutely my favorite place I visited in Holland and well worth the day trip from Amsterdam.