Zaandam

Sister cities

• Boulogne-Billancourt

History

The history of Zaandam (formerly called Saenredam) and the surrounding Zaan River region (the Zaanstreek) is intimately tied to industry. In the Dutch Golden Age, Zaandam served as a large milling centre. Thousands of windmills powered saws that processed Scandinavian wood for the shipbuilding and paper industries. A statue that commemorates this industry was commissioned from sculptor Slavomir Miletić, and the statue, De houtwerker ("The Woodworker"), was installed on 20 June 2004. Zaandam is historically linked with the whaling industry. In 1697, Tsar Peter I of Russia spent some time in Zaandam, where he studied shipbuilding. He stayed in a little wooden house built in 1632 but was soon forced to leave because he attracted too much attention from the local population. He moved to Amsterdam, where he studied at one of the wharves of the Dutch East India Company. His home in Zaandam was preserved and turned into a museum, the Czar Peter House. A statue honoring him was placed on the nearby Dam Square in 1911, and was declared a Rijksmonument. In 1871, the impressionist painter Claude Monet lived in Zaandam for approximately half a year. During that time, he made 25 paintings of the area, including Houses on the Achterzaan, Bateaux en Hollande pres de Zaandam and A windmill at Zaandam.

Most-observed species

• Eurasian Coot

  Fulica atra Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  50,629
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  44,201
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  40,840
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  40,547
• Gray/Purple Heron

  Ardea cinerea Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  39,880
• Carrion Crow

  Corvus corone Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  38,678
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  38,077
• Western Jackdaw

  Coloeus monedula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  35,810

Most recent

• M 2.9 — 2008-10-11
  19 km WNW of Egmond aan Zee, Netherlands
• M 3.7 — 2001-09-12
  54 km WNW of Petten, Netherlands
• M 3.4 — 2001-09-10
  10 km W of Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands
• M 3.8 — 2001-09-09
  7 km W of Egmond aan Zee, Netherlands