Retie

Retie is known as the village of the seven nits, but actually there are many more. The seven Nits mentioned in this context are: the Werbeekse or Desselse Neet, the Zwarte Neet, the Witte Neet, the Looiendse Neet, the Klein Neetje, the Nonnenneetje (tributary of the Zwarte Neet) and the Metsenneetje (tributary of the Klein Neetje). All of them belong to the headwaters of the Kleine Nete. If you counted correctly, you would find on the territory of present-day Retie no less than eleven Nits. The reason why one speaks of only seven Nits is of two kinds. The two tributaries mentioned are much closer to the center of the village than the other upstream tributaries. Plus, there's also the magic of the number seven. The name 'het dorp der zeven Neten' was already established long before the merger with the church village of Schoonbroek, so that it was no longer considered appropriate to expand that number with the Wamp and its tributaries. In addition to the total of eleven Nits, there are also eight other watercourses in Retie.

Lannoo