The third main canal in the old city is Luttik Oudorp. On the corner with Appelsteeg is the only surviving wooden-fronted house in Alkmaar, Het huis met de kogel. The 'house with the cannonball' gets its name from the fact that it was struck by a Spanish cannonball, during the Siege of Alkmaar in 1573. There is still a cannonball on the facade as a reminder. The occupants, the Calvinist preacher Jan Arendsz and his family, were unharmed.
Across the bridge from the cannonball house is a shorter canal, the photogenic Kooltuin, with a quay on one side only (the other houses back onto the water). The parallel narrow street, Achterdam, (at the front of these houses) forms the entire red light district of Alkmaar. Achterdam is one of four streets around a rectangular block. Their names indicate it is a unit, in fact a late 15th-century land reclamation: Dijk, Voordam, Achterdam, Zijdam - dike, front dam, rear dam and side dam.
The canals in the old cities of Holland had an economic function: they were a vital means of transport. Warehouses and the few industries were located on the quayside. Goods were unloaded from barges, and often hoisted into the upper stories. At Luttik Oudorp 81 is a typical large warehouse with a projecting beam for the hoist, De Korenschoof ('The Wheatsheaf'). The warehouse has double access doors on four stories, and next to them arched windows (originally with shutters in place of glass). The sandstone blocks alongside the door carried the original heavy hinges. The upper storey (with the three arched windows) is the hoist floor, the hoist wheel survives. The hoist could be worked from any of the floors below.
In the long narrow street Fnidsen, parallel to Luttik Oudorp, is a simple Remonstrant church (Fnidsen 35-39). This is a schuilkerk, or 'hidden church'. After the Reformation, the Dutch Reformed Church was the only legal religion. As time went on, Catholics and non-conformist Protestant sects, were allowed to practice their religion, but only out of public view. Chapels inside private houses were tolerated, and later small churches, so long as they did not look like churches. This one was built in 1658, to replace a secret meeting place in a mill. The gate with the two flanking houses was built later, in 1728. The wrought iron above the door incorporates the letters RK (Remonstrantse Kerk), the interior has a 17th-century chancel with 18th-century baptistery screen, and copper chandeliers from the same periods, and a deal floor (traditionally covered with sand).
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Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Alkmaar - updated May 2024
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Alkmaar Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
