Mediterranean refugees settled here in 1,200 and while tilling virgin soil discovered hundreds of horns from wild goats which had drowned in a massive flood a thousand years previous. Thus they called their homestead Geytenhoren which means goat horns and the name was eventually shorten to Giethoorn. Now a nature preserve, the village allows no cars – just foot traffic. A bit of a tourist trap with cafes and rental boats every three hundred yards along the canal walkways but since I have no quarrel with accessibility to cafes, a charming way to spend an afternoon!
