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Katwijk

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Katwijk

Flag

Coat of arms

Coordinates: 52.20° N 4.40° E

Country

Netherlands

Province

South Holland

Area (2006)

- Municipality

31.06 km² (12 sq mi)

- Land

24.65 km² (9.5 sq mi)

- Water

6.40 km² (2.5 sq mi)

Population (1 January 2007)

- Municipality

60,910

- Density

2,471/km² (6,399.9/sq mi)

Source: CBS, Statline.

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

- Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

Website: www.katwijk.nl

Tourist market in the center of Katwijk, every Tuesday in July and August.

Katwijk (population: 61.292) is a municipality and town in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality now covers an area of 31.06 km² (11.99 mile²) of which 6.41 km² (2.47 mile²) is water. It shares its borders with the municipalities of Noordwijk, Teylingen, Oegstgeest, Leiden, and Wassenaar.

On 1 January 2006, Rijnsburg and Valkenburg have been merged into the municipality.

Katwijk, 10 km northwest of Leiden and 16 km north of The Hague, is a popular coastal resort and former fishing village. Like Urk, Spakenburg and Staphorst, the old Katwijk aan Zee is regarded a bastion of strict Protestants, although a minority of the population is actually Christian. Close by are the locks constructed in 1807 by the engineer, F. W. Conrad (d. 1808), through which the Old Rhine (here called the Uitwateringskanaal) flows to the sea. The shore and the entrance to the canal are strengthened by dikes.

It is also twinned with the town of Lowestoft in East Anglia, England.

Katwijk is also the landing place for a large number of international and intercontinental Transatlantic telephone cables such as the TAT-14.

1 Population centres
2 History
3 Public transportation
4 People born in Katwijk
5 Tourist Attractions
6 Image gallery
7 External links

The town Katwijk consists of the population centres (with number of inhabitants on 1 January 2005):

Katwijk aan den Rijn (5916)
Katwijk aan Zee (22405)
Hoornes-Rijnsoever (13845)
Rijnsburg (15450)
Valkenburg (3904)

The fishing village Katwijk aan Zee and the agricultural Katwijk aan den Rijn used to be two different places. The town hall is located in Katwijk aan de Rijn, near the boundary of Katwijk aan Zee. Hoornes-Rijnsoever is north of Katwijk aan Zee. East of Katwijk aan de Rijn is Rijnsburg and to the south is Valkenburg. These communities have now all grown together as one forming one city: Katwijk.

Katwijk aan Zee in particular has retained its own character. An old-fashioned dialect ("Strand-Hollands") is still spoken there, maintained by the close knit fishermen community.

Katwijk in 1865.

Katwijk formed on the North Sea coast at the mouth of the Oude Rijn. In prehistoric times, the Catten Germanic tribe lived in this location.

In Romans times, Katwijk was a place of strategic importance, along the northern border of the Roman Empire. The Roman town of Lugdunum Batavorum (built during the reign of Emperor Claudius (41-54)) is often associated with the city of Leiden, which has been using this latin nickname for centuries. Katwijk – not Leiden as is often mistakenly claimed – is the site of this Roman city. In 1520 a Roman camp known as the Brittenburg was discovered here. It was square in shape, each side measuring 75 m, and the remains stood about 3 m high. By the middle of the 18th century it had been destroyed and covered by the sea.

In 1231, the first reference to the name Catwijck is made. A reference to a fish market on the beach of Katwijk aan Zee is made 150 years later.

During World War II, most of the buildings of Katwijk aan Zee were demolished by the Germans to make way for the Atlantic Wall. In the south dunes of Katwijk, many bunkers from World War II can still be found. The ambiance of the present-day beach boulevard dates from after this war.

Katwijk has no railway station. The nearest railway stations are Voorhout and Leiden. Katwijk is by bus connected with Voorhout, Leiden, The Hague, Haarlem, Nieuw Vennep and Zoetermeer. The RijnGouweLijn is planned to connect Katwijk with Gouda.

Katwijk is the birthplace and hometown of the Dutch Footballer Dirk Kuijt.

The most famous part of Katwijk is its beach. On warm summer days, many people go there to take a fresh bath in the sea.

Besides the beach, there are a few museums in Katwijk, like the old fishermans museum Katwijks Museum, the Spinoza-museum and the Space Expo, the museum of the ESA. Also, around the Valkenburg Lake, a museum steam locomotive ride can be taken after a visit to the Narrow gauge museum.

The theme park Duinrell is very close to Katwijk and can be reached by direct bus line. Katwijk has many hotels and three campings, mostly situated in the dunes.