Markelo

Markelo is a village in the Dutch province of Overijssel. It is located in the municipality of Hof van Twente (Garden of region Twente), 

and is situated near exit 27 of highway A1 between Deventer and Hengelo.

(Coordinates: 52°14′03″N 6°29′43″E). 
The population is about 7.000.

Markelo was a separate municipality between 1818 and 2001, when it became a part of Hof van Twente.

Scenery

At the westside of the village is located the Markelose Berg (“Mountain” of Markelo), on top of which the Provinciaal Verzetsmonument Overijssel 1940-1945 (the Resistance Monument of the Province of Overijssel) is situated.
On another little hill called De Hulpe (the Help) formerly was a chapel with a miraculous statue of Maria, our blessed dame.
(In 2008 the Chapel is reconstructed as part of the cultural historic walkway around Markelo).

About 5 km at the south-western side of the village is a broadcasting tower of 132 meters high. This beacon can be seen from more than 25 kilometers distance. It was build in 1959 to support the radio and televisionstations for the eastern part of the Netherlands.
The tower itself is 112 meter high and originally the mast was 45 meter. But in 2007 the mast was shortened till 20 meters, while it was no longuer used for television broadcasting.
Nowadays it is only used for radio-, telephone- and data traffic.

History

In the year 1181 the village of Marclo is already stated in very old archives. At that time there was an open air tribunal at the Dingspelerberg (Court Mountain) at the westside of the village. (This formal court place is reconstructed and is nowadays an official open air wedding place).

Before the Eighty Years’ War (or Dutch War of Independence) against the Spanish dominion of Philip II from 1588 till 1648, Markelo was an important place of pilgrimage for the Roman Catholic Church in the eastern part of the Netherlands.   

During the Statue Storm at 1566 the interior of the Roman Catholic church  and all other catholic art and decorations was destroyed and  the citizens were pressed to be Protestant.

Nowadays the population of Markelo is mainly conservative Protestant. In the center of the village is the Protestant Martinus Church. This name is derived from the Roman Catholic Saint Martinus.

Formerly Markelo had an own railwaystation at the diesel railwaytrack between Zutphen and Hengelo, about 3 km southern of the village. Due to economical reasons the station was closed in May 1953.

Toerism

Markelo is one of the eldest villages of our region Twente, with remarkable hilly agriculture fields and the village is surrounded by five hills.
This landscape and his characteristic elements has been unchanged for centuries. It is one of het best preserved areas in the Netherlands. The lovely landscape always has been ideally suited for walking and biking and there are many cultural historic elements to see as for instance the church, windmill, museum farm and WW2 monuments and elements.
There are many camping sites and other overnight accomodations.

Please look at the website of the local Tourist Information: www.vvvmarkelo.nl (also in English language).

Media

Markelo has a local website called Maarkels Nieuws (Markelo news).
Please see www.maarkelsnieuws.nl (only in Dutch language)

Bron: Wikipedia e.o.

(More pictures will follow later)