Volendam

Volendam (on the coast) and Edam (at the back)

Volendam is a town in North Holland in the Netherlands, in the municipality of Edam-Volendam. The village has about 22,000 inhabitants (November 2007).

Tourism

Dutch traditional costumes displayed at a folklife festival. The Volendam costumes are the first two on the left.

Little girls of Volendam in traditional costumes, 1906.

Volendam is a popular tourist attraction in the Netherlands, well-known for its old fishing boats and the traditional clothing still worn by some residents. The women's costume of Volendam, with its high, pointed bonnet, is one of the most recognizable of the Dutch traditional costumes, and is often featured on tourist postcards and posters (although there are believed to be fewer than 50 women now wearing the costume as part of their daily lives, most of them elderly). There is a regular ferry connection to Marken, a peninsula close by. Volendam also features a small museum about its history and clothing style, and visitors can have their pictures taken in traditional Dutch costumes.

History

Originally, Volendam was the location of the harbor of the nearby Edam, which was situated at the mouth of the river IJe. In 1357, the inhabitants of Edam dug a shorter canal to the Zuiderzee with its own separate harbor. This removed the need for the original harbor, which was then dammed and used for land reclamation. Farmers and local fishermen settled there, forming the new community of Vollendam, which literally meant something like 'Filled dam'. The majority of the population belongs to the Roman Catholic Church, which is deeply connected to the village culture. Historically, many missionaries and bishops grew up in Volendam. Today there is the chapel of Our Lady of the Water of the visionary Mrs Hille Kok, which is located in a village park.

Football

FC Volendam is a football club based in Volendam, which plays in the Dutch Eredivisie.

Music

Volendam is also well known for its distinctive music, which is called Palingsound in reference to Volendam's status as fishing village. During the '60s, the local group The Cats was a very popular group in the Netherlands and abroad.

Another band from Volendam was BZN, which became popular in the late '60s/early '70s. In 1995 BZN performed a duet with the ten year old Jan Smit, who quickly became a celebrity in his own right. He starred in his own real life soap which boosted the careers of several of his friends, Nick & Simon and the group 3JS.

Café Fire 2001

In the new year's night of 2000 to 2001, the lighting of a bundle of sparklers caused a short but intense fire at a party in café De Hemel. The sparklers ignited the dry Christmas decorations on the ceiling, which fell down in their entirety. 14 people died, and over 180 people were injured. An inquiry showed the owner had been negligent in providing escape routes as well as in inundating the Christmas decorations, and that there were too many people in the building at the time of the incident. The mayor, Frank IJsselmuiden, and the city councilor responsible both resigned as a result of the inquiry.

The harbor of Volendam

External links

• Volendam Events - Enjoy Volendam
• Tourist information about Volendam
• page about traditional costumes (Dutch)
• Page about traditional costumes (in English)
• page about typical local fishing boats (Dutch)