Every design for Gieten

Gieten grew up in the early Middle Ages where the old road from Groningen to Coevorden met the road to Assen, high on the Hondsrug ridge in Drenthe. It was first recorded as Geten, and the junction still shapes it: the N33 and N34 cross at its edge, and the bus station there links the village to half the province. When that station was built, archaeologists found the outline of an Iron Age farmstead in the ground.

Not far away stands Hunebed D14 Eexterhalte, a megalithic tomb far older than any of it. Closer to the brink, the green at the heart of this esdorp, Dorpsmuseum De Kluis keeps the village's story and the Hazewind corn mill still turns. Everyday life here runs at an easy pace: a swim in the open-air pool in the Zwanemeerbos, a walk across the heath, a visit to the Rijk der Kabouters with small children. For decades, the Gieten cyclo-cross race brought the best riders in the sport to Gieten.

If you learned to swim in that pool or stood shivering beside the cross course, this map is yours to keep.