Municipality in North Holland, Netherlands
Beverwijk
(
Dutch pronunciation:
[?beːv?r???ik]
ⓘ
) is a municipality and a city in the
Netherlands
, in the province of
North Holland
. The town is located about 20 kilometres (12 mi) northwest of
Amsterdam
in the
Randstad
metropolitan area, north of the
North Sea Canal
very close to the
North Sea
coast. A railway tunnel and two motorway tunnels cross the canal between Beverwijk and the nearby city of
Haarlem
on the south side of the canal.
Around 1640, a town called
Beverwyck
was founded in the Dutch colony of
New Netherland
. That town's modern name is
Albany, New York
.
Population centres
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The municipality of Beverwijk consists of two cores, Beverwijk proper and
Wijk aan Zee
, 5 km (3.1 mi) to the west, right on the coast.
History
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The name Beverwijk comes from
Bedevaartswijk
, meaning "pilgrimage neighbourhood". The town formed at the Saint Agatha Church which was a pilgrimage location in the Middle Ages. Allegedly
Agatha of Sicily
appeared there in the 9th century to a virgin from
Velsen
who was fleeing from the Count of Kennemerland.
In 1276, Beverwijk was granted market rights by
Floris V
, and in 1298 it was granted
city rights
by
John I
, both
Counts of Holland
.
During the 17th century, wealthy merchants from Amsterdam built their estates, such as
Huize Akerendam
,
Huize Westerhout
, and
Huize Scheijbeeck
, in the scenic dunes surrounding Beverwijk.
Prior to the reclamation of the
IJ Bay
, the narrowest point in the North Holland peninsula was at Beverwijk. Therefore, a defensive line was built there in 1800 following the
Battle of Castricum
in 1799.
In 1944, during the Second World War, the Germans conducted a house-to-house raid in Beverwijk and
Velsen-Noord
, seizing nearly 500 persons as hostages to force the murderers of three collaborators to surrender themselves. In all, 63 of them never returned.
Around 1977, the first furniture stores opened along the Parallel Road, forming the first "furniture boulevard" in the Netherlands. By 1981, 10 businesses had been established there. South of the furniture boulevard, the
Bazaar
was introduced in 1980.
On March 23, 1997, Beverwijk was the location of a clash of two
football firms
. Supporters of the Dutch
football
team
AFC Ajax
met with
Feyenoord
supporters in what has come to be known as the "
Battle of Beverwijk
". During this incident, one Ajax supporter was beaten to death.
Since 1997, Special Needs Judo Foundation has organised its annual OBG (Open Beverwijk G-judo) tournament in Sporthal De Walvis, featuring over 1000 special needs judoka from all over the world. The tournament takes place every year in April.
Local government
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The municipal council of Beverwijk consists of 27 seats, which are divided as follows:
- Samen Beverwijk - 4 seats
- VVD
- 4 seats
- D66
- 4 seats
- Vrij Beverwijk - 3 seats
- GroenLinks
- 3 seats
- PvdA
- 2 seats
- CDA
- 2 seats
- On's Beverwijk - 2 seats
- Forum voor Democratie
- 1 seat
- Fractie Kocak - 1 seat
- Motie Mendes - 1 seat
Notable residents
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Sport
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Transport
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Gallery
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-
Beverwijk, church: de Grote Kerk
-
Museumkennemerland
-
Inundatiekanaal van de Pijp naar de inundatiesluis in de Sint Aagtendijk - Beverwijk
-
Relweg 57, Wijk aan Zee
See also
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References
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External links
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Places adjacent to Beverwijk
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