Gooi

It is a slightly hilly area characterised by its green landscape, its historical charm, the wealth of its inhabitants and its villas.

It is generally the area between a dry ditch called the Gooyergracht, dug in 1356 to demarcate the border with the province of Utrecht, and the river Vecht.

The Gooi refers traditionally to the part of this area that lies in the province of North Holland.

Their inclusion would mean that the region extends in the west to the Amsterdam–Rhine Canal (not just to the Vecht) and in the east to the river Eem (not just to the Gooyergracht).

This municipality includes Ankeveen, Breukeleveen, 's-Graveland, Kortenhoef, Muyeveld, Nederhorst den Berg, Nieuw-Loosdrecht and Oud-Loosdrecht.

The Gooi is centred on the northernmost point of a geological formation called the Utrecht Hill Ridge (Utrechtse Heuvelrug).

The highest point in the Gooi is the Tafelberg (36.4 m above sea level), which is located halfway between Blaricum and Huizen.

The vegetation in the area includes deciduous and coniferous woods, heath, grassland with sand pits, land developed as estates and the unique leftovers of open high ground and commons (engen en meenten).

Near Hilversum the longest wildlife crossing overpass in the world has been constructed over the N524 and the Amsterdam-Hilversum railway line.

Called the Natuurbrug Zanderij Crailo (literally, the "Crailo Sand Quarry Nature Bridge"), the massive structure is over 800 meters long and spans not just the motorway and railway line, but also a business park, river and sports complex.

Monitoring is currently under way to examine the effectiveness of this innovative project combining wildlife protection with urban development.

In the constantly changing watery landscape of prehistoric Holland, this area was suitable for settlement and is thought to be one of the oldest inhabited parts of the Netherlands.

These drinking spots provided a source of water for livestock and became the centres of the settlements in the area.

The churches founded in the other towns in the area all bore the name of St. Vitus, the patron saint of the Gooi.

The people in the area (especially Bussum, Laren and Blaricum) spoke a Dutch Low Saxon dialect called "Goois".

Starting around 1500, and reaching a peak in the 17th century, sand was quarried in the area for the expansion of Amsterdam.

With the laying of canals, and later the railways, wealthy people from Amsterdam and Utrecht began to build grand country homes in the area.

Because of the nature in the area and its historic charm, the villages have become attractive to the affluent, including retirees.

Hilversum became the centre of the Gooi as a result of the rapid development of wool production and the textile and carpet-making industry.

A Philips radio and transmitter factory, called "NSF" or Nederlandse Seintoestellen Fabriek, was built in Hilversum in 1918.

This led to the founding of the Netherlands Public Broadcasting system and the various networks, including AVRO, VARA, KRO, NCRV, NTS and the NOS and others.

Despite its earlier importance, Naarden was surpassed by Hilversum in the 18th century and today is much smaller than its neighbour Bussum.

The inhabitants included Anton Mauve (teacher of Vincent van Gogh), Jan Sluijters, Ferdinand Hart Nibbrig, Saar de Swart and American art collector William Singer, whose collection became the basis for the Singer Laren museum.

Today Laren and Blaricum are residential towns for television personalities, retirees and people who struck it rich during the internet boom in the 1990s.

An interesting feature of Blaricum and Laren is that each still has a recognisable village green in their centre, called a "brink" in Dutch.

When the railway was laid, a station was built for both Bussum and Naarden, making the area more accessible.

Artists settled in the town, including Frederik van Eeden, who started his own "Walden colony" here, and Herman Gorter.

Today, thanks to its location on the Hilversum-Amsterdam railway line, the conurbation of Bussum-Naarden-Hilversumse Meent is the second largest built-up area in Het Gooi, behind Hilversum, but ahead of Huizen.

After the Zuiderzee was blocked off by the Afsluitdijk and Flevoland was drained and created, the fishing industry died out, but the town is still located on the Gooimeer, a southern extension of the IJsselmeer.

That is not the original local dialect but a modern speech pattern of people who have moved to the Gooi from Amsterdam and elsewhere in the Randstad.