Wergea Roaming Route

Over the centuries, the people of Friesland become highly skilled at creating new land as they reclaimed areas of the former Middelzee estuary, drained the Workumer Nieuwland polder and carried out other major land reclamation projects along the coast. Yet there are few large areas of reclaimed land such as those in the provinces of North and South Holland. Staversemeer in the southwest corner of the province, and Sensmeer and Atzemeer near the villages of Westhem and Blauwhuis are all examples of Frisian efforts to reclaim land. There were also several lakes south of Leeuwarden so there was a tremendous amount of water here. The village of Wergea was also surrounded by three lakes. In the 17th and 18th centuries these lakes were drained so the land could be farmed.

This route leads you past several of these drained lakes. The little village of Wergea can be spotted from afar because it has two almost identical church towers. These towers and the traditional little drawbridges make it easy to imagine that time has stood still here. The village is famous for having the first dairy cooperative in Friesland. The cooperative founded in 1886 went on to produce the famous Frico brand. The cooperative eventually outgrew its original premises and moved elsewhere. Today the former factory complex houses several small businesses.