Foggy golden hour at the windmills of Kinderdijk by Jeroen de Jongh Photography

The mills of Kinderdijk are nineteen mills in the northwestern part of the Alblasserwaard, a region in the Dutch province of South Holland. Although they are referred to as belonging to the village of Kinderdijk, one mill is located just outside it, in the municipality of Alblasserdam.

These are boezemmolen (storage mills), which form two mill galleries and are a major (also international) tourist attraction. Since 1997 they have been on UNESCO's World Heritage List and the area is also a protected village sight. The mill rows can only be visited on foot or by bicycle. Three mills are open to the public.

The mills at Kinderdijk were built from the end of the fifteenth century, but the current mills almost all date from 1738 and 1740. The mills at Kinderdijk were built to pump up water from the low-lying polder. They are almost all ground-sailers. At the bottom of each mill is a scoop wheel, which brings the water up, often with a height difference of 140 centimeters.

The mill complex of Kinderdijk consists of:

* 8 brick windmills formerly owned by the former Nederwaard water board, built in 1738.
* 8 thatched windmills formerly owned by the former Overwaard water board, built in 1740.
* 2 octagonal windmills of the polder Nieuw-Lekkerland: De Hoge Molen (built in 1740) and De Lage Molen (1761).
* 1 smock mill, De Blokker, from the polder Blokweer built in 1630 and severely damaged by fire in 1997. The mill has been completely restored and has been operational a