Steyl (; ) is a village in the Tegelen district of the municipality of Venlo, the Netherlands. The village on the river Meuse is mainly known for its monasteries. In 2004, a section of the village including four monasteries was made a conservation area under protection of the Dutch heritage agency Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed (beschermd dorpsgezicht Steyl or kloosterdorp Steyl). Location Steyl is situated on the right bank of the river Meuse in the northern part of the province of Limburg. It is located close to the border with Germany. A ferry connects Steyl with Baarlo. Steyl is divided into two areas: Old Steyl: The old village, located west of Roermondseweg, the main road in Tegelen. Most of the old village is a conservation area. New Steyl: A newer area, located east of Roermondseweg. This area is locally known as Alland. In the past, Steyl often had to deal with floods when the river Meuse burst its banks. Major floods occurred in 1993 and 1995, when much of Old Steyl was flooded. History Merchant village In the late Middle Ages and modern times, Steyl was a port on the Meuse for unloading marl, wine, coal and other items for the Duchy of Julich. This brought wealth to local merchants, especially in the 18th century. Some merchants, such as the Moubis family, built mansions from the revenues earned by their trade (the Moubis estate). The port activities on the Meuse are now gone. All that remains is a small ferry service and the old ferry house, which is now a pub and restaurant. The Moubis mansion was sold in 1876 to a monastic community of German nuns from Münster, who then significantly expanded it (St. Joseph's Monastery). The Moubis wine warehouse was sold around the same time to another religious order of nuns from Essen (St. Gregory's Monastery). Thus, the merchant village of Steyl gave way to a village of monasteries. Monastery village From the late 19th century, the village attracted religious institutions from five Roman Catholic congregations – each of which built their own monastery. Three of them were founded by the German priest Father Arnold Janssen. He emigrated to the Netherlands in the 1870s because the Catholic Church was put under great pressure in the newly founded German Empire of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck (see: Kulturkampf). Janssen founded in Steyl the Society of the Divine Word (Latin: