Almenum

Almenum
Village
This map labels the church with an A in the graveyard and the legend says "Den Dom van Almenum mit de Kerck"
The church of Almenum drawn on a map of Harlingen 1664
Location of Almenum
Coordinates: 53°11′N 5°26′E / 53.183°N 5.433°E / 53.183; 5.433 (Almenum)
CountryNetherlands
ProvinceFriesland
gemeenteHarlingen
Population
 • Totalc. 0

Almenum is a historic locality in the northern Netherlands, near Midlum, Friesland the site of the first Christian church in Friesland.[1] Saint Boniface set up a local church in the locality in 754.[2] The location of the church is on the Terp of Almenum, a mound of earth about five meters high.[3] Almenum is named after the place where someone called "Allaman" lived.[4] The -um suffix is derived from the West Frisian word "hiem" meaning "home".[5] An alternative explanation for the name of the locality is that it originally meant common lands for grazing cattle. In Icelandic this kind of land still uses the term "almenningurheim".[6]

  1. ^ STEENSTRA, H. W. (1836). Oudheidkundige aanteekeningen van de dorpen en kloosters der Grietenij Barradeel, etc (in Dutch).
  2. ^ Beschrijving der Nederlanden (in Dutch). Laarman. 1841. p. 338.
  3. ^ "Grote Kerk - Open Monumentendag". www.openmonumentendag.nl. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  4. ^ "HISGIS information panel for Almenum (N) (Terpnamen fryslan)".
  5. ^ Sieswerda, D.; Sieswerda, J. J. (4 April 2015). "Tot 500 A.D." Geschiedenis van Pingjum: van 0 tot heden (in Dutch). Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference hoeb was invoked but never defined (see the help page).