Bataviawerf (shipyard)

Wander around a shipyard specialized in constructing life-size, seaworthy replicas of sailing ships that sailed the seas centuries ago. The Batavia is an example of one such a ship, which now lies moored next to the shipyard and can be explored from top to bottom. Guides tell the story of the original Batavia, which set sail from Holland in 1628 bound for Indonesia… and the blood-curdling events that ensued.

As soon as you enter the shipyard, you step back in time into our (in)famous VOC history. The Dutch East-India Company (1602-1799) sent its fleet of cargo ships as far as Japan and Indonesia to bring back exotic goods such as spices, porcelain, sugar, cotton, silk and opium. Some of the goods remained in the Netherlands but many were loaded onto the next carrier, shipped on to another country and sold at a profit. The Batavia is a replica of a cargo ship from those times. Currently, work is underway to construct a Zuiderzee fishing boat in the shipyard. The master shipbuilder chooses to use building methods, materials and tools of the time so today’s shipbuilders must learn old crafts such as how to make sails and ropes and decorative wooden sculptures the traditional way. See how it is done and then have a go yourself!
Next door to Bataviawerf is a great museum called Erfgoedcentrum Nieuw Land. If you can’t quite grasp the story of the Zuiderzee Works, Afsluitdijk Closure Dam and the new polders created in Lake IJsselmeer, you will find this museum very enlightening. Photographs, films, personal testimonies, objects and tools paint a clear picture of the history of Flevoland.