Late summer beach stroll - a photo on Flickriver

            Beach and North Sea at Noordwijk aan Zee, Zuid-Holland (South Holland), Netherlands

Some background information:

Noordwijk is a town in the province of South Holland, in the west of the Netherlands. It has  a population of about 25,600 and consists of the communities Noordwijk aan Zee and Noordwijk-Binnen, which are separated by a narrow green belt.

Besides its wide sandy beaches , Noordwijk is also known for its bulb flower fields. The town is situated in an area called the "Dune and Bulb Region" (Duin- en Bollenstreek). But Noordwijk is also the location of the headquarters for the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), part of the European Space Agency (ESA).

Noordwijk aan Zee was founded around 1200 as a fishing village. Until the beginning of the 19th century, fishing remained its primary business, but then was gradually replaced by the growing tourism industry. Nowadays it is a popular resort town with 1,000,000 overnight stays per year. It has a lighthouse and a KNRM rescue station. Furthermore, it has a reformed church (buit in 1647) with a pulpit from the 17th century.

Noordwijk aan Zee is rated as the 12th richest location in the Netherlands. Beer magnate Freddy Heineken has built a villa there, which isn’t hard to find due to its characteristic green roof. The town of Noordwijk is also the place of residence of Louis van Gaal, the famous football manager, who currently coaches Manchester United. Furthermore it was the favourite seaside resort of many celebrities of the 20th century, like the Italian educator Maria Montessori, the German writer Thomas Mann, the German painter Max Liebermann and Soraya, the glamorous wife of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran. Many of the former celebrities, who enjoyed being in Noordwijk, used to stay at Noordwijk aan Zee’s Grand Hotel Huis Ter Duin.

However, the history of Noordwijk goes back to more ancient times. The first traces of inhabitants were recorded when the Scottish Benedictine monk Jeroen arrived here in 847 to carry out his mission work and build a chapel. His life came to an abrupt end in 857 when he was beheaded by ransacking Normans. But his name lived on, as more than a hundred years later in 980 a Roman chapel was built in his honour, which became a popular destination for pilgrims. In 1303 a large Gothic stone church was built on the site of the chapel to replace it, known as Sint Jeroen’s.  

In 1429 the Bishop of Utrecht officially confirmed Noordwijk as a place of pilgrimage. Sint Jeroen's Church developed over time into a pilgrims’ church, which provided Noordwijk with a considerable income. However, the Eighty Years' War put an end to this. In the course of the Iconoclastic Fury of 1566 the church could only be saved by paying a substantial sum to William of Orange's army. During that time all Catholic objects were removed from the church, including the most important relic, Sint Jeroen’s skull. Tradition has it that his head lies buried somewhere in the church, but nobody knows exactly where. 

Nevertheless Noordwijk also used to be an important fishing village. Back in 1474 it had an extensive fleet of 38 large and small ships, which left from the beach as there was no harbour. The fishermen mainly caught herring, cod, haddock, whiting and plaice.

By the end of the 19th century, Noordwijk’s bulb cultivation became more and more important. The acreage of bulb fields grew to 252. Amongst other flowers, tulips, daffodils and gladioli were (and still are) grown. Today the Noordwijk bulb area covers even 311 hectares of land. 

That’s why Noordwijk also became known as Europe’s floral seaside resort.  In the second half of the 19th century, sea water was believed to have a cleansing effect. In 1885 the Grand Hotel Huis Ter Duin was opened for a wealthy public, but with the arrival of the steam tram, a visit to the seaside became a possibility for many holiday makers. Nowadays the unique combination of the beach and the colourful fields of flowers ensures that Noordwijk still prospers as a popular seaside community.

Taken in: Nederland / Zuid-Holland / Noordwijk (show map)

Taken on: September 12, 2014

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2014 « less

Sets appears in: • Netherlands 2014 • Seasides more » • Summer « less

Groups appears in: • Nederland/The Netherlands • Beside the seaside, besides the sea ... more » • Dutch • European Vacation • Geotagged: Netherlands • The concept is Europe « less

Camera: Canon PowerShot SX20 IS, f/3.5, 1/1250 sec, 9.2mm, ISO 80 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon PowerShot SX20 IS
Lens:	5.0-100.0 mm
Aperture:	f/3.5
Exposure Time:	0.001 sec (1/1250)
Focal Length:	9.2mm
ISO:	80
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Windows)
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