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TheVlie orVliestroom (West Frisian:Fly) is the seaway between theDutch islands ofVlieland, to its southwest, andTerschelling, to its northeast. The Vlie was theestuary of the riverIJssel in medieval times. In 1666 theEnglish AdmiralRobert Holmes burnt a Dutch merchant fleet of 130 ships (Holmes's Bonfire), that had taken refuge in the Vlie, mistakenly supposing the English could never find their way through the treacherousshoals along its coastline. Today it's still possible to reach the port ofHarlingen by way of the Vlie.
The former Zuiderzee (called Lake Flevo) drained into the North See through the Vlie.[1]
It is often supposed that the old Roman name for the lake that later would become theZuiderzee:Lacus Flevo, is etymologically related to the name "Vlie" and that perhaps Vlie was once the name of the entire lake and the big river that flowed out of it. In the 13th century large floods widened the estuary and destroyed much of the peat land behind, creating a continuous area of sand andmudflats connecting the sea to the enlarged inland lake and obscuring the flow of the river. When theAfsluitdijk was created, the old streambed from the river to the sea was obstructed. The construction of the Afsluitdijk caused a 19% increase of current velocity in Vliestroom.[2]
In theLex Frisonum the Vlie (Fli, or Flehi) is accepted as the boundary between the territory of the East and West Frisians.[1]