Overview
Espel is one of the so-called green villages (Dutch: groendorpen) in the Dutch province of Flevoland. It lies in the municipality of Noordoostpolder next to a crossroads where provincial road N712 from Urk to Lemmer intersects with road N714 to Emmeloord, roughly 6 km to the east.
Name
Espel is named after the former village of Espelbergh, also known as Espelo, which was situated north of Urk until it and a large amount of nearby land were washed away in the All Saints' Flood of 1570.
History
Espel was founded in 1956 as an agricultural settlement and one of the green villages spread around the Noordoostpolder. Shortly after being founded Espel was granted several facilities, namely shops, three schools, two churches and two cafeterias.
Facilities
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).