Asperen: Een boerenstad aan de Linge

The small-town of Asperen is the best example in the Netherlands of a medieval town that used to be almost completely agrarian. The pre-urban core consisted of farms along two roads (the Voorstraat and the Minstraat) on both sides of the river Linge. During the Early Middle Ages, the river made a new bend, providing a triangular area that, shortly before 1314, was used for the layout of an ambitious new town by one of the branches of the aspiring Van Arkel family. A new street with farms was laid out, the Achterstraat (backstreet), parallel to the older village streets. Back alleys, the Achterwal and the Broeksteeg, connected the backsides of the farms with the lands. Later, the Broeksteeg (nowadays known as the MIddelweg, middle road) attracted ever more non-agrarian houses.