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to Helder. ALKMAAR. 44. Route. 411
railway-station lies about 1/4-1/) M. from the town (tramway), the
road to which leads through the pleasant public gardens, embellished
by a figure of ‘Alcmaria Victrix’, by Stracké (4873).
The Groote Kzrx or CouncH oF St. LAwREncg, a fine late-
Gothic cruciform edifice (4470-98), with modern faites vaulting,
deserves a visit (sacristan in the small square, planted with trees,
to the S. of the church). In the S. aisle, near the organ (painted
by Cesar van Everdingen), is a painting in seven sections, of 1507,
representing the Seven Works of Mercy. In the S. transept is the
finely-engraved brass of Pieter Claesz Palinck (41546), Carved stalls
in the Renaissance style. The choir contains the ancient tomb of
Floris ¥., Count of Holland (d. 1296). — There are two modern
Roman Catholic Churches at Alkmaar, one in the Gothic, the other
in the Romanesque style.
In the Lange Straat, the chief street of the town, rises the
Srapuuts with its tower, a late-Gothic structure dating from 1507.
It contains the library and the Municipal Museum, consisting of
Alkmaar antiquiti a few paintings, etc. Admission, Mon. and
Frid. 4-3 p.m. (for strangers at other times also), 25 c.
Room I. Pictures by C. Heck; painted sculptures from the portal of the
Orphanage; instruments of torture. — Room I. To the right, Honthorst, Holy
Family (1632); Caesar van rdingen, Portrait, ‘Regent Piece’ (1634), Two
large corporation-p (painted in 1659 under the influence of B. van der
Helst); W. van de Velde the r, Battle of Copenhagen in 1658, a large
cartoon; C. van Everdingen, Lycurgus showing the results of educ At on. —
On the opposite wall, several corporation-piec of the end of the 16th and
beginning of the 17th tes Ot no great merit; P. de Grebber, Family-
portraits (1623); representations of the sieges of Haarlem and Alkmaar by
the Spaniards; view of Alkmaar Weis h Hou W. Bartsius, Corporation-
piece (1634). — In the middle of the room are uptures and weapons. —
Room II. , weapons, and other small works of art.
The Town Weigh House (reached from the end of the Lange
Straat, through the Mient to the left) was formed in 1552 ont of
the former church of the Holy Ghost. The handsome tower (with
chimes and moving figures) was completed in 1599 by Corn. P.
Kunst. Alkmaar is the centre of the N. Holland cheese-trade. On
market-days (Fridays) the whole of the picturesque Place in front
of the Weigh House is covered by huge piles of red and yellow
cheeses, while the streets are full of the gaily-painted waggons of
the neighbouring peasantry.
A Sream Tramway runs to the W. from Alkmaar (station) to (88/4 M.;
20 min.) Zgmond aan Zee. The chief intermediate station is Egmond op
den Hoef, the ancestral seat of the counts of that name, who afterwards
settled in S. Holland, and whose castle was destroyed by the Spaniards
in 1578. A lit 2 S lies Eymond-Binnen, once famous for its abbey,
destroyed in 4 hurch of which many of the ancient Counts of
Holland were interre d. The abbey at a very remote period was a zealous
patron of science, and its chronicles formed the principal source of the
early history of Holland. — Egmond aan Zee (Hotel Kurhaus, 10 R.; Bad-
Hotel Zeezicht, 30 R., pens. 31/25 fl.), which has an excellent beach, was
opened as a sea-bathing resort in 1904. At the foot of the lighthouse, erect-
ed in 1833, is a colossal lion in honour of Lieutenant Van Speyk (p. 371).
The dunes (p. 314) afford an extensive view. |
