A Wooden Ark in the Netherlands?

It is no secret that the Netherlands has its fair share of rain. Nut building a full-size ark might seem a little excessive.

Located in Dordrecht is a 30-metre wide, 23-metre high and 135-metre long wooden ark. Yet, rather than saving us from the rising tides, the ark, dreamt up and built by Johan Huibers, is here to tell us that God loves us and that He has a plan for our lives.

With a message like that, it would be fair enough to have a few worries, especially if you are not religious, about visiting without being pounced on and forced into believing the message of God. That, however, was the complete opposite of the experience I had.

Photo Courtesy of Ark of Noah

When I arrived at the ark, which was started in 2009 and officially opened in June 2012, my nose was assaulted by the overwhelming smell of cut wood. This makes a lot of sense when you think that building the ark required 20,000 trees. Luckily for each tree used, two were planted back. The next thing that struck me was how big the ark was. Despite knowing the measurements before I arrived, it isn’t until you are inside that you realise just how big it really is. The current ark is ten times the size of a previous ark that was opened in 2007 and welcomed 6000,000 visitors over a three and a half year period.

As you walk along the three different decks, following the elephant footprints, you see exhibitions, films and even a section filled with life-size replicas of the animals said to have been on the original ark. Moving through the ark allows you to learn the history of the ark and its original purpose.

Photo Courtesy of Ark of Noah

During your visit the presence of staff members is no more or less than at any other attraction and it would be easy to almost miss them altogether. If a discussion about religion is of interest to you, however, then the staff members are able and willing to have that discussion with you.
While the ark is expected to remain in its current location throughout the year, it will eventually set sail. So you will want to put this more unusual attraction towards the top of your list before it’s too late.

[box] Ark of Noah

Address: Maasstraat 14, 3313 CR, Dordrecht, Netherlands

Website: www.arcofnoah.org[/box]