The colorful town of Zaandam. Zaandam (Netherlands) - Travel prolongs life — LiveJournal Zaandam Netherlands

Dear friends, I am pleased to publish the story of Lyudmila from St. Petersburg, about her independent trip to the small Dutch town of Zaandam, with which the history of the Russian land is connected...
Every resident of St. Petersburg, who loves his city and is at least a little interested in its history, knows from childhood that he studied shipbuilding, and later built a city on the Neva, with rivers and canals, in the likeness of Amsterdam. Most often, everyone tends to go to Amsterdam, but everyone forgets where Peter the Great lived in Holland, and travel agencies don’t often offer a similar route.

While preparing for a trip to Keukenhof, in one of the reviews I saw a mention of the town of Zaandam with its main attraction -. We can say that this is luck for any tourist: the city is located not far from Amsterdam, and in addition to the train, you can also get there by bus. Oh, I also noticed that as soon as you start collecting material about some attraction, a lot of additional interesting facts immediately appear.

On a warm, sunny June morning I went to Zaandam. I walked along the central street of Peperstraat and could fully enjoy the deserted streets of the still-unanimated morning town. On both sides of this street there were austere Gothic churches: Eastern

and Saint Boniface.

Not far from the Eastern Church in a small park there is a sculpture called “Resistance”.

The Eastern Church is surrounded by interesting brick houses, but I wanted to get to it as quickly as possible.

It was ten o'clock in the morning and I was the first visitor. Everyone who could have already expressed their impressions about this house, which enjoyed its popularity from the very moment when Peter the Great lived in it. The house passed from hand to hand, and great people of their time flocked to it in each subsequent century. Fortunately, he has survived to this day.

Regarding sleeping while sitting. We discussed it with the guide. So, there is an opinion that the whole family could fit in a closet like “Petrovsky’s”: babies were placed downstairs, the middle shelf was for older children, and the top was for mom and dad.

There is a portrait of Peter the Great in the house, in my opinion the artist clearly flattered him :) Any Russian person sees the Tsar as tough and rude rather than somewhat dreamy and soft-bodied.

The house itself is so lopsided that the concept of “parallel lines” does not apply to it; rather, there will be trapezoids everywhere, but I liked the idea of ​​​​leaving it in its original form. Near the house-museum there is a small garden with busts of Peter the Great

and - the wife of King William II of the Netherlands.

The surface of the earth in this place is covered with specially brought shells, as a material that absorbs moisture. Walking around the city, I saw these shells in several other places.

Regarding the topic of Peter's desire for small spaces. In my opinion, small wooden buildings were easily heated and retained heat well in inclement weather. Of course, this is not a palace, just a blacksmith’s dwelling, where Peter stayed. But besides Peter’s house in St. Petersburg, there is also a travel palace in Strelna, with its own garden and vegetable garden and a fancy staircase, but still the same wooden one.

The painter Claude Monet did not ignore it either; he made a small sketch, which is kept in the museum.

It is worth admitting that Monet was impressed by Zaandam; at one time it was a rather provincial place: colorful houses, windmills and charming boats on the water.

In 1871, Claude Monet spent only four months in Zaandam and managed to create 25 paintings and 9 sketches during this time. The caretaker of the house, at my request, showed me the way to the pier, where the legendary house is located, which became the model for Monet’s painting “The Blue House”.

It is located on the harbor embankment, where Peter the Great actually sailed from Russia. Everything fits into a single chain of facts, events and monuments. On the way to Dam Square, surrounded by interesting buildings of past centuries, there is a monument to Peter. This monument has quite an interesting history. It was created in 1910 by sculptor Leopold Bernshtam and installed on the Admiralty Embankment in St. Petersburg. A copy was cast from the sculpture and presented to Zaandam in 1911.

After the revolution, Peter of St. Petersburg was sent to be melted down... And, in 1996, the government of the Netherlands presented Russia with a copy of the Tsar Carpenter monument, which now stands again in St. Petersburg. In 2011, I was wandering around St. Petersburg in the summer evening with a camera, and I liked this monument so much then and remembered it in the rays of the setting sun. And now, there was a story with a continuation!

Times change. Zaandam could have remained quiet and provincial, but it was decided to breathe new life into the town. The attempt was successful; the central canal of Gedemptegracht was literally transformed by new colorful architecture, based on the best examples of architecture of past centuries. Yes, this is a remake, but very bright and creative.

Pebble boats for children.

The Intel Hotel Amsterdam Zaandam has become a rather interesting dominant feature of the city center. By the way, Monet’s stylized “Blue House” also found its place in its façade.

The surrounding buildings are built in hotel style.

It was nice to wander through the clean, newly decorated streets. Interesting architecture, attractive bridges over the Gedemptegracht canal. By 12 o'clock in the afternoon there were more and more people, but for the most part they were local residents. There are shops and cafes on both sides of the canal.

The Beatrixbrug Bridge spans the Zaan River. I saw him get divorced at 10 am and at noon. During the day, the bridge opening resembles a queue at the barrier☺ There are buses, cars, cyclists and pedestrians waiting.

Barges are moving along the river...

I wouldn't say it's Zaandam, but nowadays it has become so attractive that it's worth spending a day or half a day there. I liked the city. Clean, with interesting architecture and attractions.

In contact with

The most interesting tourist attraction in Zaandam is, of course, the House of Peter I, where he lived during his two visits. Almost two centuries later, another stone one was built over the house to protect the wooden structure from the merciless time. From the city railway station to this museum it is about a 15-minute walk, entrance fee is 3 euros per adult, there are Russian-language excursions on weekends. In the center of the city there is a monument to the Russian Tsar-Carpenter. In addition, in Zaandam for 7 euros you can visit the city museum, which contains paintings, photographs and other exhibits reflecting the history and culture of the region.

Having carefully examined the city, it’s time to move to the Zaanse Schans open-air museum. Entrance to its territory is free, but you will have to pay for a thorough inspection of some objects. It may be more profitable not to buy tickets separately to each of the many museums in the park (among them the museum of klomps, the clock museum, the paint mill, the sawmill and many others), but to purchase a special museum card at the information center for 9.5 euros. It gives you the right to visit many of them for free, and also provides a discount on some products in local souvenir shops. But even if you decide to limit yourself to a walk along Zaanse Schans, you won’t be bored. The cozy atmosphere of antiquity, beautiful landscapes and windmills that inspired Claude Monet will not leave even the most demanding visitors indifferent.

At the station in Zaandam or in Zaanse Schans you can see machines with maps of the towns. Don't hesitate to take them, they are free and very detailed. It is very easy to get to the main attractions along them. However, it’s difficult to get lost even without a map. For example, from Koog-Zaandiek station to Zaanse Schans there are signs everywhere, so you can easily walk east from the train station past the chocolate factory (the smell is amazing!) to the end of Stationsstraat, then turn left, then right at the intersection, and then through river over the bridge. That's it, you've reached your goal, it takes longer to talk than to walk. If, however, the walking route does not seem attractive, follow the signs to the free ferry, which will take you to Zaanse Schans. Well, in Zaandem, blue traces laid out directly on the cobblestone pavement lead to the main city attraction.

Kitchen

It's hard not to get hungry after a day of exploring the fresh air at the Zaanse Schans Museum. The park administration took this into account and there are several cafes and restaurants in the village where visitors can eat. De Hoop op d'Swarte Walvis, De Kraai and the Zaans Museum Café serve tea, coffee, excellent pastries and wonderful views. And, of course, you can always buy bread at the local bakery, cheese at the dairy, mustard at the first Albert Hein store (now a giant supermarket chain) and dine on all this splendor right on the grass. In Zaandam itself there are also many places where you can refresh yourself. I would also like to highlight Robby’s, the rock and blues cafe Fishline, Lapaix and the Blacksmith pub, located in a former forge.

Shopping

There's simply no better place to buy real, authentic Dutch souvenirs than Zaanse Schans. Here, every museum, every mill has its own store. There you can buy cheese (where would you be without it!) made using ancient technology, fragrant bread and sweets made in the In den Gecroonde Duyvekater bakery, as well as delicious local mustard (try it with cheese). Pay attention to clothing and accessories made from hand-woven fabrics, ceramics, dolls and wooden shoes turned by you, antiques and, of course, models (including working ones) of windmills.

How to get there

If you want to get to Zaandam, bypassing Amsterdam, directly from Schiphol airport, then you will need Sprinter trains running every half hour to Hoorn. A ride on them to your destination will take 20 minutes and cost 4 euros. Other types of trains will require you to change trains. But traveling from Amsterdam is not fraught with any difficulties. Zaandam is the second train stop from the capital's Central Station; direct trains depart from it literally every 10 minutes.

In just 10-15 minutes, having paid 2.30 euros (a ticket for first class carriages costs 3.90, but is there any point in spending money on such a short trip?), you will arrive at the place. You can also take the train to Zaandam at Sloterdijk station (next to the metro station with the same name, Sloterdijk). In this case, you will need to get off at the next stop. Your trip will be even faster and will cost exactly 2 euros.

Connexxion buses no. 92 and no. 94 depart from the bus station in Amsterdam (located to the left of the train station) and take you to the center of Zaandam (stop Peperstraat) or to the train station there. From the same capital bus station there are direct buses to Zaanse Schans, their route number is 91, the travel time is about 40 minutes.

The most romantic and expensive way to get to Zaanse Schans is by boat. You can rent a boat in Amsterdam and this pleasure will cost from 50 euros per hour.

When I ask people who have visited Holland what they visited, I usually hear the standard answer: Amsterdam. Sometimes it can also be supplemented by cities such as Rotterdam or even The Hague.

Of course, in people’s minds, all the “sweetest” places in the small kingdom of the Netherlands are concentrated in its capital, Amsterdam, but, alas, this is not so.

I visited more than 15 cities in Holland, including the province of Friesland. The one that has its own language: Frisian, which the Dutch themselves do not fully understand. So, the real Holland is worth discovering outside of Amsterdam.

And you can start with a small but interesting city - Zaandam, which is located only 20 km from Amsterdam. And it’s easy to get to by train: 10 minutes from the central station and 2 stops.

City center

Zaandam canals

And this is a typical view of the city

Modern gets along well with beautiful frigates and yachts

A small dam to control water in a canal

Why Zaandam?

• Because it was here that Peter I once lived and studied. In the center of the city there is a monument to him, as well as the house where he lived, which is now a museum. It is noteworthy that Peter I worked as a carpenter while he studied the complex and labor-intensive shipbuilding industry;
• If you want to see one of the symbols of Holland - mills. Near Zaandam there is a world famous open-air museum - Zaanse Schans, where you can see various ancient wooden mills, as well as their structure and decoration inside. The mills were actually transported from different parts of the Netherlands in the late 60s. Many of them are still functioning. Also in Zaanse Schans you can see a cheese factory, a workshop for making traditional wooden shoes, an oil mill, a special mill for making mustard;

Famous Dutch mills

Some people live on the lower floors of mills

Zaanse Schans

View from the mill

• Zaandam was once a major industrial center. Moreover, one of the largest in Europe, so while walking around Zaandam, you can see various, often no longer working factories, but the architecture of these buildings is quite interesting;
• Also, while walking around the city, which is best done by bicycle, you can see a huge number of traditional wooden houses. They are usually painted green: such houses can be 1600 years old or more. In the center of Zaandam you can see the famous hotel: Inntel Hotel, which seems to consist of many such wooden traditional houses;

This hotel is in the heart of the city

And in these buildings there are offices

• In Zaandam there are a large number of shops where you can buy traditional Dutch cheeses of different varieties, and moreover, cheaper than in Amsterdam. In general, Zaandam is a shopping place: there are a huge number of stores with cheap branded clothing. The Dutch themselves often come here to shop.

National pancakes with ginger jam

And of course, since there are much fewer tourists in Zaandam than in Amsterdam, this is an excellent place for lovers of bicycles and kayaking: there are many parks, places for riding and relaxing.

I live opposite this house :)

Evening Zaandam

Evening Zaandam

google map Zaandam

On Tuesday, our paths with Alexey diverged: I went north - to Zaandam and Alkmaar, and Lyokha went west - to Zandvoort and Haarlem. We chose the Dutch railways as our means of transportation. Trains between cities are fast and frequent. Ticket prices are quite reasonable. The only small snag occurs when purchasing them...

The problem is that the machines do not accept banknotes. Moreover, approximately half of the machines do not accept euro coins. Well, to complete the picture, most Russian cards are not suitable. Alexey didn’t believe me before the trip, saying that Mastercard is also Mastercard in Africa. In Africa - yes, but in the Netherlands - no. I won’t say 100%, but as I understand it, only chip cards are suitable. You can also buy tickets at the box office, but it will be a little more expensive there - about 10%. Naturally, we could not commit such a waste and started collecting small change for the machines. For example, we bought water for 1 euro, gave a 5 and received 4 euros in change. And so on. By the end of the Dutch part, we had become so accustomed to collecting small change that we could easily collect change for the longest trip to Eindhoven (16 euros there + 16 euros back). By the way, a round-trip ticket costs exactly the same as 2 tickets separately. The only exceptions are weekends - then a round-trip ticket, if I’m not mistaken, costs the same as a one-way ticket.
Almost all trains in the Netherlands are double-decker (I haven’t seen any others). The class number is written on the carriage - 1 or 2. There is almost no difference in them, only in the 1st class there is practically no one. The 2nd was also usually not sold out - I only rode standing once. Controllers were encountered in approximately 30-40% of cases (by the way, in Belgium in 95%).

Train

Alexey's main goal was the track in Zandvoort, which hosted Formula 1 in 1952-85. During the 1973 Grand Prix, Roger Williamson died there, and driver David Purley received the George Medal for courage, because. tried to save him from a burning car. Zandvoort is also a resort, so Alex was able to see the North Sea. On the way back, he visited the typical Dutch town of Haarlem, which may be known to Spartak fans - it was after the match with Haarlem in 1982 that a stampede occurred in the Luzhniki Stadium, in which 66 people officially died.

Train

I originally planned to go to Zaanse Schans and Volendam on this day. This is a classic country trip for tourists from Amsterdam. Zaanse Schans is an open-air museum with numerous mills, and Volendam is an ancient fishing town. But the road introduced some difficulty - to get to Skhans you needed a train + ferry, and to Volendam you needed a bus. In the end, I abandoned them and visited Zaandam and Alkmaar, which are easily accessible by train, and in essence these cities are no worse. I took a ticket to Alkmaar and back, and on the way made a stop in Zaandam. As far as I know, Dutch railways allow you to do this - get off along the route, and then continue on the same ticket.

river Zaan

The name of the city is written Zaandam, and in Russian you can find two variants: Zaandam and Zaandam. Translated, it means “dam on the Zan River.” As you know, in the telephone alphabet, male and female names are usually used to designate letters. The Dutch telephone alphabet is no exception, but in addition to names, there are a couple of city names. “Zandam” is used to designate the letter “Z”.

river Zaan

The river is navigable, so you can often stumble upon a raised drawbridge. I managed to stumble upon it 3 times.

Drawbridge

On both sides of the river there are two churches from the 17th century. - they got their names from the sides of the river. The western one is also called the Bull Church, because cattle were once kept in front of it. One day, a bull raised a pregnant woman on its horns, who immediately gave birth to a child. A monument was even erected in memory of this incident.

Eastern Church (Oostzijderkerk)

The parish of St. Boniface was founded here in 1784. At the same time, a wooden church appeared, which served until the end of the 19th century.

And the modern neo-Gothic church was built in 1899-1900. The architects were Albert Margry and Jos Snickers, the latter being the bishop's brother.

Church of St. Boniface (Sint-Bonifatiuskerk)

Nearby stands the monument to Christ the King. The Feast of Christ the King is one of the youngest Catholic holidays, it was founded by Pope Pius XI in 1925 in the encyclical “Quas Primas”. Initially, the date of the holiday was set on the last Sunday of October, and in 1969, during the reform of the liturgical calendar, it was moved to the last Sunday before the beginning of Advent.

Christ the King (Christus Koning)

On May 10, 1940, German troops invaded the Netherlands, and within 3 days Queen Wilhelmina and the government left the country, flying to London. And on May 15, the commander-in-chief of the Dutch army signed an act of surrender. Organized resistance to the German occupation developed relatively slowly, but became widespread in 1944. The main areas of activity were internal sabotage and strikes.
The words “They did not die in vain” are inscribed on the Resistance Monument. And below are the names of 36 residents of Zaandam who died in the war.

Resistance (Verzet)

But the main attraction of Zaandam is the house of Peter I. Both the English and Dutch Wikipedia pages pay attention to the house. What was even more surprising was that many of the residents we met did not know about it (out of 8 respondents, only 3 showed the direction). Finally, after a long search, the house was found.

The wooden house itself is located inside a brick and glass case house. A Russian aunt also sits here, collecting 3 euros for viewing this mini-museum. In 2005, our sovereign V.V. Putin visited Peter’s house, but this did not add popularity to the museum - according to the caretaker, she does not see living people every day. Maybe something will change after my visit.

House of Peter I (Tsaar Peterhuisje)

Peter arrived in Zaandam on August 18, 1697. He came to Holland as part of the Russian delegation under the name of the sergeant of the Preobrazhensky regiment Peter Mikhailov. The Tsar settled in a house on Krimp Street, in which lived Gerrit Kist, a sea blacksmith who had previously worked in Russia at the shipyards in Arkhangelsk. Peter starts working at one of the shipyards. In his free time, he inspected factories, mills and workshops. The appearance of foreigners in Zaandam, an unusual phenomenon for that time, attracted the curious. And rumors that the Russian Tsar was here led to people from all over the country coming to the village. Peter's incognito was quickly broken. Therefore, on August 25, Peter leaves for Amsterdam. Subsequently, Peter returned to Zaandam several times, but never stayed here for more than one day.

House of Peter I (Tsaar Peterhuisje)

The small house in which Peter lived for only a week was preserved and turned into a museum. It acquired the status of a historical site and belonged to the royal family of the Netherlands. In 1814, Emperor Alexander I visited Zaandam and the house of Peter I. In 1816, the daughter of Emperor Paul I, Anna Pavlovna, became the wife of the prince and then the king of the Netherlands, William II of Orange. On the occasion of the birth of their second son in 1818, the house was given to her by the King of the Netherlands. Subsequently, the building passed from one member of the Dutch royal family to another. In 1886, Anna Pavlovna's son, King Willem III of the Netherlands, donated Peter's house to Tsar Alexander III. The house was owned by the Russian royal court until the revolution of 1917. After the Romanov heirs officially renounced the rights to the house in 1948, it again came into the possession of the Dutch state.

House of Peter I (Tsaar Peterhuisje)

In general, the city of Zaandam was previously called Saardam. This is evidenced by the inscription on the monument to Peter I not far from the house.

House of Peter I (Tsaar Peterhuisje)

The history of this monument is interesting. It was created by sculptor Leopold Bernstam in 1910 and installed on the Admiralteyskaya Embankment in St. Petersburg. A copy was cast from the sculpture and presented to Zaandam in 1911. After the revolution, St. Petersburg Peter was removed for melting down. And only in 1996 the government
The Netherlands donated to Russia a copy of the Tsar Carpenter monument, which now stands again in St. Petersburg.

Peter I

Zaandam is also famous for the fact that here in 1971 not only the first McDonald's was opened in the Netherlands, but throughout Europe! True, this historical "McDuck" has not survived - now there is another restaurant there.
Continuing the conversation about the Dutch McDonald's, it should be noted that the toilet in them is usually paid (around 30-50 cents). In some countries there is a combination lock, and the code is indicated on the check, but there is a guard standing here and does not want to let anyone through without money.

Gedempte Gracht street

The houses of Zaandam attracted Claude Monet to create several paintings in 1871. What struck me most were the houses that appeared here quite recently. Specifically, the modern Inverdan district, located right next to the station.

The complex includes shops, an entertainment center and even a new town hall, but the main pearl of Inverdun is the enchanting 4-star Inntel Hotel. It was built in 2010 according to the design of the architect Wilfred van Winden (b. 1955).

Inntel Hotel

When I first saw this modern area in the photo, I had no doubt that instead of the poppy Zaanse Schans, I should go here. And Zaandam did not disappoint. Well, then I headed to Alkmaar...