Orvelte

Orvelte is a village in Midden-Drenthe, north-east of Hoogeveen, first recorded in 1362 as ‘in Oervelde’, the far side of the heath field. It grew in the Middle Ages as an esdorp on the road between Westerbork and Zweeloo, and would be unremarkable had it not been designated a protected site in 1967 and steadily returned to its layout of about 1830. It now works as a museum village, with the brink at its centre restored and traditional trades shown through the year. The Bruntingerhof, built between 1560 and 1650 and moved here in the 1960s, is the oldest surviving farmhouse in Drenthe.