Zelhem, Halle, Zieuwent

Among all the lovely farmlands you will find all kinds of historical stories. Zelhem, still called Salehem in 801, came into existence thanks to Helmbald, an otherwise unknown farmer. The monk Liudger was allowed to build a small chapel on the land of which the farmer and his son had the usufruct. After the son's death, the plot was to fall to the church. On that spot now stands the Lambert Church, but a replica of the old chapel can still be found at Museum Smedekinck.

Halle lies on the Halserug. Over this also runs the Romienendiek, a 16-kilometer historic road. Although you might think the name is derived from Roman times, in all probability this is not so. In the Achterhoek dialect, a Roman is simply called "Roman," not "Romien. But the story goes that the street was named after a corruption of the name Rooi'je Mien, a red-haired witch who made this country street unsafe....

In the past, the surroundings of Zieuwent were rather swampy. Therefore, farms were built on higher ground, called droebels. These were often located next to each other so that it was easy to work together and keep scum at a distance. Zieuwent originated from such a droebel.

Dive with your bike into the culture of the villages Zelhem and Zieuwent in the Achterhoek and discover all the undiscovered parts!

Would you like to shorten the route to 28 km? By turning off at junction 09 to junction 07 (or vice versa if you cycle the route the other way).