Page 254 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Europe

252  FR ANCE AND THE L OW C OUNTRIES

a visit. The walls of the hotel’s
café are covered with works by
late 19th-century artists who,
came here to paint the town.

3 Alkmaar
* 94,000. £ n Waaggebouw,
Waagplein 2–3 (072-5114 284).
( cheese market: Apr–1st Fri in Sep:
10am–12:30pm Fri.
∑ vvvhartvannoordholland.nl
Alkmaar is one of the few Dutch
A typical 17th-century gabled timber house towns to maintain its traditional
in Marken cheese market, which has
2 Marken and been held here since medieval
Volendam times. Every Friday morning in The soaring pipes of the famous organ in
summer, local producers lay out
Gouda and Edam cheeses in Haarlem’s Grote Kerk
Marken: * 2,000. @ 4 Volendam:
* 21,000. @ n Zeestraat 37 (0299- the Waagplein, and from 4 Haarlem
363747). ( Sat. ∑ vvv-volendam.nl here, porters sporting colorful
straw hats take them off on * 147,000. £ n Grote Markt 2
Located on the shores of the sledges for weighing at the (023) 531 7325). ( Mon, Fri & Sat.
Marker Meer, and less than an Waaggebouw (Weigh House). _ Haarlem Jazz Festival (mid-Aug).
hour’s drive from Amsterdam, This imposing building, altered
Marken and Volendam are in 1582 from a 14th-century Haarlem is the center of the
extremely popular with tourists, chapel, also houses the Het Dutch printing, pharma-
who are drawn to their old-world Hollands Kaasmuseum, where ceutical, and bulb-growing
character. In spite of the crowds, local cheese-making techniques industries. Most of the city’s
it is worth spending a few hours are explained. main attractions are within
exploring their narrow streets Alkmaar’s vast Gothic church, easy walking distance of the
and canals, lined, as they are, the Grote Kerk, was completed Grote Markt, a lively square
with attractive 17th-century in 1520 and contains the tomb overlooked by the Gothic
gabled timber houses. You may of Floris V, Count of Holland. The Grote Kerk. Also known as Sint
even spot the local inhabitants nave is dominated by the 17th- Bavo’s, this huge church was
wearing traditional dress. century organ, designed by built between 1400 and 1550.
Places to look out for include Jacob van Campen and painted Its highly decorative organ
the Marker Museum in Marken, by Cesar van Everdingen. (1735) has been played by
which consists of six historical both Handel and Mozart.
houses. One of the houses is E Het Hollands Kaasmuseum Also on the Grote Markt, the
furnished as a traditional Waaggebouw, Waagplein 2. Tel 072- Stadhuis (Town Hall) dates
fisherman’s dwelling. 5155 516. Open Apr–Oct: Mon–Sat; from 1250 and displays a
Volendam’s Spaander Hotel, Nov–Mar: Sat. & 7 mixture of architectural
at No. 15 Haven, is also worth ∑ kaasmuseum.nl styles. The oldest part of the
building is the beamed
medieval banqueting hall of
the counts of Holland.
The Amsterdamse Poort, the
medieval gateway that once
formed part of the city’s
defenses, was built in 1355.
Haarlem is well known for
its hofjes (almshouses), which
began to appear in the 16th
century. Established in 1610, St.
Elisabeth’s Gasthuis now houses
a historical museum. The Frans
Hals Museum occupies the
almshouse where the famous
artist (1582–1666) supposedly
lived out his last years. In
addition to a superb collection of
Porters carrying cheeses at Alkmaar’s traditional market paintings by Hals himself, there is
For hotels and restaurants see p260 and p261

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