Netherlands Guide
The north and the Frisian Islands
Friesland
A region that prospered during the sixteenth-century heyday of the Zuider Zee trade, Friesland is focused around eleven historic cities and seven lakes, the latter symbolized by the seven red hearts on the region's flag, which proudly flutters in many a back garden. Since the construction of the Afsluitdijk, which sealed off the Zuider Zee and transformed it into the freshwater IJsselmeer, Friesland has relied on holidaymakers drawn to its rich history, picturesque lakes and immaculate villages to replace the trading routes and fishing industries of yesteryear.