Municipality in Limburg, Netherlands
Venray
or
Venraij
(
pronounced
[??n?raːi]
ⓘ
;
Limburgish
:
Venroj
) is a
municipality
and a
city
in
Limburg
, the
Netherlands
.
The municipality of Venray consists of 14 towns over an area of 165 km
2
(64 sq mi), with 43,494 inhabitants as of July 2016.
[4]
About 30,000 of those inhabitants live in the city of Venray; the other 13,000 live in one of the 13 surrounding towns.
[5]
Topography
[
edit
]
Map of Venray (town), Dec. 2013
Populated places
[
edit
]
Mental hospitals
[
edit
]
In 1905, the Sint Servatius mental hospital for men was built by the
Brothers of Charity
. The first patients arrived in 1907. In 1906, the Sint Anna mental hospital for women was built by the
Sisters of Charity of Jesus and Mary
. The first patients arrived in 1909. In 1969, management of the mental hospitals was transferred to two separate foundations. Both mental hospitals have a continuing impact on Venray from cultural, religious and employment perspectives. Nowadays, both mental hospitals are managed by GGZ Noord- en Midden-Limburg.
Venray also hosts one of 12 mental hospitals in the Netherlands,
De Rooyse Wissel
, that house people assigned to mental treatment as a court measure.
St. Peter in Chains Church
[
edit
]
The
St. Peter ad Vincula
church in Venray hosts one of the largest late medieval collections of wooden
sculptures
that survived the
iconoclasm
of the
protestant reformation
in the Netherlands. The church itself was originally built in the 15th century in the
gothic
style. It was rebuilt after extensive damage following the
World War II
Battle of Overloon
.
World War II
[
edit
]
Towards the end of World War II there were several battles in and around Venray, damaging large parts of the center of Venray. These include the
Battle of Overloon
in October 1944,
[6]
one of the largest tank battles between the Germans and western
Allies
. Venray town was not liberated until 1945. It has the only German War Cemetery in the Netherlands. 31,598 German soldiers are buried here.
Economy
[
edit
]
In recent decades Venray has made a transition from
manufacturing
to a
third-party logistics
base. As a consequence many
warehouses
have been built on
industrial
estates in recent years.
Small and medium enterprises
and mental
healthcare
also continue to play an important role in the local economy. Venray also provides
logistics
through its
Meuse
river harbor in
Wanssum
and
A73 motorway
.
Nature
[
edit
]
The western section of Venray, the villages Vredepeel and Ysselsteyn, was reclaimed from the
Peel
peat bogs in the early 20th century. Parts of the peat bogs remain and have been transferred to a national park. The western section of Venray is also straddled by part of the
Peel-Raam Line
, defensive works consisting of a canal and bunkers dating to the
World War II
period.
Venray, near Geijsteren, also has a forest and sand dune area, that is one of the few locations in the Netherlands that is home to
common juniper
.
Notable residents
[
edit
]
Sport
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
Places adjacent to Venray
|
---|
|
|
---|
International
| |
---|
National
| |
---|
Geographic
| |
---|