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Leusden is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. It is located about 3 kilometres southeast of Amersfoort.
The western part of the municipality is partially covered by forest, partially by heathlands. The other parts are used for livestock farming.
[edit] Population centres
Map of the municipality, with towns and villages.
The municipality of Leusden contains four villages:
There are also a number of hamlets in the municipality[1]: Asschat, Den Treek, De Ruif, Jannendorp, Musschendorp, Oud-Leusden (formerly named "Leusden", and Snorrenhoef.
[edit] The town of Leusden
The place that is now called Leusden was first mentioned as Villa Lisiduna in a charter in 777. The location of that settlement, which is considered to have been a rather extensive farm complex with defenses, is unknown to us. It is possible that the old village of Oud-Leusden once was the location of Villa Lisiduna but excavations in the 1980s have not shown any evidence. However, the church tower of Oud-Leusden is one of the oldest towers in the Netherlands, dating back to the 11th century A.D.
In the 1970s, the agricultural towns of Leusbroek and Hamersveld grew into to a larger, mainly residential town. What once was Hamersveld is now called Leusden-Centrum and Leusbroek was to become Leusden-Zuid. However, Leusden is the common name these days. In the original plans, Leusden would grow into a town of around 46,000 inhabitants, but after the initial expansion phases there was growing resistance from the population. So some of the later phases of the expansion have been abandoned.
[edit] References
- ^ ANWB, "Topografische atlas Nederland 1:50000",2005. Cartography by the Topografische Dienst, Emmen.
[edit] External links
Leusden is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. It is located about 3 kilometres southeast of Amersfoort.
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