---
title: "The Le Roy Garden, an ecocathedral in Heerenveen"
date: 2026-09-23
description: "Since 1966, a special process has been underway in the center of Heerenveen-Midden. On this kilometer-long and 20-meter-wide green strip, plants, animals..."
author: "Bouwmeester"
categories:
  - name: "general"
    url: "https://leroytuin.nl/algemeen-en.md"
---

# The Le Roy Garden, an ecocathedral in Heerenveen

Since 1966, a special process has been underway in the center of Heerenveen-Midden. On this kilometer-long and 20-meter-wide green strip, plants, animals, and humans work together without any one dominating. It is a place where space is given time, and time space.

 It is an [**ecocathedral**](https://leroytuin.nl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=385&Itemid=5760) , based on the idea of Louis Le Roy (1924–2012). Le Roy advocated that every place in the Netherlands should designate 1% of its territory as an ecocathedral. This does not necessarily have to be done using stones, but it should be a place where humans, plants, and animals work together endlessly. Without a fixed plan, without an end goal, and with free energy (volunteers). He called this a **symbiotic twin city** . Nowadays, you might call it a 'rewilding' project, although humans still play an important role in ecocathedrals.

 This website informs you about the history, present, and future plans of this special piece of public space.

 This map (source: Bomenregister.nl) clearly shows how the Le Roy garden is the green heart of the Heerenveen-Midden district:

 ![tree register map trees](https://leroytuin.nl/images/boomregister-plattegrond-bomen.jpg)

  This aerial photograph of the Le Roy Garden beautifully shows that the heart of Heerenveen-Midden is a green lung of trees.