Elburg

Elburg is a municipality and city in Gelderland province in the Netherlands, with evidence of a Neolithic settlement and Roman-era artifacts on its site and a first written record dating to 796. Between 1392 and 1396 the city was rebuilt with a moat, a city wall and a gridiron street plan, and it was recorded as a member of the Hanseatic League in 1367. After the 1932 closure of the Zuiderzee ended much of its fishing and farming economy, the town turned deliberately toward tourism from 1956 onward, and its largely intact medieval center, including the Sint Nicolaaskerk church tower and the Vischpoort fish gate, now draws more than 30,000 visitors a year to events such as the Midweekfeesten and Botterdagen.