Almere (lake)
Almere | |
---|---|
Location | Netherlands |
Coordinates | 52°35′26″N 5°26′50″E / 52.59056°N 5.44722°E |
Type | former lake |
Lake Almere was an inland lake in the place of today's IJsselmeer in the center of the Netherlands.
History[edit]
The texts of ancient Romans called it Lake Flevo.[citation needed] Lake Almere is mentioned among others in a life of saints written by Anglo-Saxon Bishop Saint Boniface in 753, and a deed of gift from the town of Urk.[citation needed]
Its etymology may be eels, in Dutch aal or ael, so: ael mere = "eel lake"[citation needed]
Presumably, the water of Lake Almere at that time was fresh water or slightly brackish.[citation needed]
A number of occurrences during the Middle Ages led to the transformation of the lake to an inland sea that would be called the Zuiderzee, which are:
- rising sea levels due to global warming known as the Medieval Warm Period.
- excavation of peat by the Frisians in West Friesland near the Vlie, a river that connected lake Almere to the North Sea.
- floods such as the All Saints' Flood (1170) and St. Lucia's flood 1287.
The name[edit]
The name of the new town of Almere in Flevoland was given in 1984 in memory of this body of water.