Rijpwetering

Alkemade (Dutch pronunciation: [ˌɑlkəˈmaːdə] (listen)) is a former municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Before its merger with Jacobswoude, the municipality covered an area of 30.91 km² (11.93 mile² ) of which 3.94 km² (1.52 mile²) is water. It had a population of 14,481 in 2004. The municipality of Alkemade comprised the communities of Kaag, Nieuwe Wetering, Oud Ade, Oude Wetering, Rijpwetering, and Roelofarendsveen. There is no settlement called Alkemade itself. The municipality has many greenhouses and 13 windmills, one of which dates from 1632. Water sports are popular here because of its location on the lakes Kagerplassen and Braassemermeer. On January 1, 2009, Alkemade and Jacobswoude merged and formed the new municipality of Kaag en Braassem.

Huigsloot (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɦœyxsloːt]) is a hamlet in the Dutch municipality of Haarlemmermeer, in the province of North Holland. It is located on the southeast of a polder, on Ringvaart, between Buitenkaag and Vredeburg. Before the creation of the polder of Haarlemmermeer, Huigsloot formed an isthmus in the lake. This isthmus was cut off from the nearby land by the construction of a canal in Ringvaart, which also formed a parcel of former land into a polder. The road from Huigsloot to Abbenes runs close to the centre of the former isthmus.

Oud Ade (also: Oud-Ade) is a village in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Kaag en Braassem, and lies about 7 km east of Leiden. The village was first mentioned in 1395 or 1396 "Ecclesia de A". The current name means "the old river". Oud Ade developed as a peat excavation settlement, but remained a small linear settlement. It developed into the village in the 1960s by the addition of planned neighbourhoods. The Catholic St Bavo Church was built in 1868.

Buitenkaag is a village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Haarlemmermeer, and lies about 8 km northeast of Leiden. The name Buitenkaag (Outer Kaag) refers to the town Kaag and the surrounding lake area, the Kagerplassen. The village officially received the name in 1859.One of the most distinctive buildings in Buitenkaag is "Gemaal de Leeghwater", a pumping station named after Jan Leeghwater. Built in the mid-19th century to reclaim the Haarlemmermeer lake, it is still operational today. Originally, it was based on steam engine. In 1930, diesel engines were installed in the pumping station.

Zevenhuizen is a hamlet in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is a partly in the municipality of Kaag en Braassem and partly in the municipality of Teylingen. Zevenhuizen lies about 7 km northeast of Leiden. Zevenhuizen is not a statistical entity, and is considered part of Oud Ade and Warmond. It consists of about 40 houses and 70 houseboats.

Hoogmade is a village in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is located about 7 km east of Leiden, in the municipality of Kaag en Braassem.

Nieuwe Wetering is a village in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Kaag en Braassem, and lies about 10 km east of Leiden. The village was first mentioned in 1343 as "Nuwe Weteringhe", and means "new waterway". Nieuwe (new) has been added to distinguish from Oude Wetering.

Vrije en Lage Boekhorst ("Free and Low Boekhorst") is a former municipality in the Dutch province of South Holland. It was located to the west of the hamlet of Zevenhuizen in the former municipality of Alkemade. The municipality existed between 1817 and 1855, when it became part of Alkemade. The area used to be a separate manor, but it was added in 1812 to the municipality of Noordwijkerhout as an exclave, even though that village lay almost 10 km away. Presumably this happened because the area was confused with Hooge Boekhorst ("High Boekhorst") near Noordwijkerhout. The municipality had an area of only about 0.35 km² and about 60 inhabitants.

Abbenes is a village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Haarlemmermeer, and is situated about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) southwest of Hoofddorp. The village was first mentioned in 1867 as Abbenes, and is named after a lost island. The name means "headland of Abe (person)". Abbenes developed shortly after 1852 on the Hoofdvaart near a bridge.

Kaag is a village in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Kaag en Braassem, and lies about 8 kilometres (5.0 miles) northeast of Leiden. The village of Kaag lies on an island called Kagereiland in the Kager Lakes (Kagerplassen). To reach De Kaag, a ferry can be taken from Buitenkaag all year or Zevenhuizen in the summer months. De Kaag is also part of an area called the Duin- en Bollenstreek ("Dune and Bulb Region"). The village is conventionally referred to as "De Kaag", but the name reported on both English and Dutch maps is just "Kaag".

The Ringvaart (known in full as Ringvaart of the Haarlemmermeer Polder) is a canal in the province of North Holland, the Netherlands. The Ringvaart (Dutch meaning "ring canal") is a true circular canal surrounding the Haarlemmermeer polder and forms the boundary of the Haarlemmermeer municipality. Ringvaart is also the name of the dike bordering the canal. Construction of the canal began in 1839 as the first step to reclaim land from Haarlemmermeer (Dutch for Haarlem's Lake). Thousands of laborers dug a canal through the existing land, as much as possible closely following the lake's contour. But at three locations (Vijfhuizen, Lisserbroek, and Huigsloot), the Ringvaart was dug through peninsulas which thereafter became part of Haarlemmermeer. In 1845, the canal was completed and the lake could be drained, using the Ringvaart to drain the excess waters. The canal is 61 kilometres (38 mi) long, and 2.4 metres (8 ft) deep. It encloses an area of more than 180 square kilometres (70 sq mi). The removed earth was used to build a ring dike from 30 to 50 metres (30 to 54 yd) wide around the polder. The Ringvaart is used for commercial and recreational boat traffic. A portion of it forms part of the sailroute from Hollands Diep to the IJsselmeer, passable for ships with masts over 6 meters (20 ft) tall. Near Roelofarendsveen, the Ringvaart crosses the A4 Highway by means of a navigable aqueduct. It was built in 1961, making it the oldest aqueduct in the Netherlands. In 2006, construction was completed of two new portions: on the east side for crossing new north-bound lanes for the expanded highway; and on the west side for the new HSL-Zuid high-speed railway. The new aqueduct is 1.8 kilometres (1.1 mi) long.

The Kagerplassen (a Dutch term meaning "the Kaag Lakes") is a small lake system in South Holland located to the northeast of Leiden. The Kaag Lakes are a popular area for boating, watersports, fishing, camping and walking. Windmills, waterfront pasture land (weilanden) with grazing animals, quaint Dutch boats and buildings and (in season) flower fields are all part of the charm of boating and walking in this area.