The harbor town of Hoorn in the province of Noord-Holland was founded in 716 and was once a major seaport and center of trade and commerce in the Netherlands. Located just 35 kilometers from Amsterdam on the Ijsselmeer, Hoorn was the departure point for the Dutch East India Company (VOC). Upon returning from their travels in the East Indies, the Hoorn fleet brought back a variety of exotic spices such as pepper, nutmeg and cloves to sell helping to usher in Holland’s Golden Age.
In addition to establishing itself as an important center of trade, many of Hoorn’s seafaring sons helped make the seaside town famous. In the town’s Rode Steen (Red Stone) square there is a statue of Jan Pieterszoon Coen, a high-ranking VOC officer infamous for his violent raids around what was then the Dutch Indies (now Indonesia) and for founding the city of Batavia (now Jakarta) 1619. Another of Hoorn’s famous sons was the explorer Willem Corneliszoon Schouten who named the southernmost tip of South America Kaap Hoorn (Cape Horn) in honor of his hometown.
Willem Ysbrandtsz Bontekoe kept a journal about his adventures on the one and only voyage he took for the VOC in a journal that was later made into a children’s book called “The Ship-boys of Bontekoe” (Scheepjongens van Bontekoe). The story proved so popular it was translated into 75 languages and a statue of the ship-boys of Bontekoe posing can be found on Hoorn’s harbor.
While in Hoorn visit the regional history museum Westfries. This Housed in a historical 17th century Renaissance building, this museum has an impressive collection of paintings, historic firearms, paintings and objects from the Dutch East India Company (VOC). In 1953, 15th century cellars were discovered under the building and after extensive restoration are now used as exhibition spaces for archaeological objects from Hoorn and the surrounding areas.
Getting there. Hoorn is a 45-minute train ride from Amsterdam. For schedules and ticket information go to www.ns.nl.
For more information on Hoorn and the city's attractions visit the Hoorn Tourism Board website.
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Monique also writes about traveling abroad with children for the blog Traveling Mom.
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