Purmerend

History

Purmerend was created out of the small fishing village Purmer, which was situated on the land between the Purmermeer (Purmer Lake), the Beemstermeer (Beemster Lake) and the Wormermeer (Wormer Lake) on the south bank of the river , which used to connect the former Purmermeer and Beemstermeer. Purmerend was founded by a rich banker and landowner from Amsterdam, Willem Eggert. Count William VI of Holland (Willem VI van Holland) gave him permission to build a fortified castle, Slot Purmerstein, in 1410. The castle was completed in 1413. This led to the foundation of the town of Purmerend. The castle was demolished in 1741, after it had fallen into decline. In 1434 Purmerend was given city rights and in 1484 "marktrechten", (the right to organise two "jaarmarkten" annual markets and a "weekmarkt" weekly market) by Count Jan van Egmond. This meant merchants from outside of Purmerend could sell in the market. Before 1484 only food for its own population could be sold. By 1500 Purmerend had grown considerably, as can be seen on maps from this period. The town had a rectangular shape and was crossed by two roads: one leading north–south, the other east–west. The draining of the Beemster Lake in 1612 and the Purmer Lake in 1622 resulted in a great loss in fishing grounds to Purmerend. However, the new and fertile soil favoured agriculture and livestock breeding, making Purmerend prosperous again. Purmerend now became the centre of an agricultural region, the produce of which was sold on the markets of Purmerend. From 1819 till 1824 the Noordhollandsch Kanaal was constructed. It was dug along existing waterways like the Oude Vaart, which connected Purmerend to the IJ opposite Amsterdam, and along canals that connected Purmerend to Alkmaar. On 20 July 1821 the large…

Geography

Purmerend lies on a swampy and watery area known as Waterland. When the first settlers began cultivating the land, it consisted mostly of turf (veen), they dug ditches that run parallel to each other to drain excess water. As a side effect of this process, the land began to sink. This resulted in a never-ending battle against the water, and made agriculture near impossible at the time. It also meant that any structure needed to be built on an artificial Terp or natural hill. This applied to Purmerend which was built on the bank of the river De Where, that linked the former Beemster and Purmer lakes. Purmerend is made up of the following districts. The municipality of Purmerend also contains the towns/hamlets of Purmerbuurt and partially the Purmer. (The Purmer is shared with Edam-Volendam and Waterland)

Most-observed species

• Eurasian Coot

  Fulica atra Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  35,660
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  32,974
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  28,537
• Gadwall

  Mareca strepera (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  27,751
• Western Jackdaw

  Coloeus monedula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  27,425
• Graylag Goose

  Anser anser (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  27,193
• Great Egret

  Ardea alba Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  26,924
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  26,321

Most recent

• M 2.9 — 2008-10-11
  19 km WNW of Egmond aan Zee, Netherlands