On the northern side of the old city, almost all traces of the city wall have gone. The moat was enlarged in 1824 to become the Noordhollands kanaal, and the canal quayside was later used as a harbour. The quayside road (Kanaalkade) is now the main road around the city centre, so it is unpleasantly busy.
At the beginning of Kanaalkade there is a 'peninsula' in the canal, with the new municipal offices (Stadskantoor, 2001) and the 1980's Alkmaar police station. (The city website has an iPix panorama photo, taken from the opposite bank: ).
Opposite the police station is a purpose-built cheese warehouse, built for the North Holland Cooperative Dairy Export Association in 1919, and later used by the Eyssen company. The style is a simplified late Jugendstil, by the Frisian architect Zytse Feddema, who designed several other cheese warehouses. The offices were on the ground floor, the cheeses were stored above. The small windows are typical of cheese warehouses: they are intended for ventilation, not for light. The building is now in temporary use as artists studios.
Further along Kanaalkade is a footbridge, linking the old city to the redeveloped northern bank, with apartments and a shopping centre on a former industrial area. (Alkmaars factories are concentrated along the shipping canal). After the next bridge (Friesebrug), there is a small 19th-century park, Victoriepark, with a statue of Alcmaria Victrix by F. Stracké (1873). The winged figure commemorates the victory in the Siege of Alkmaar, and is an informal symbol of Alkmaar - several local sports teams are named 'Alcmaria Victrix'. The barely noticeable brick wall along Wageweg, at the edge of the park, is part of the original city wall.
The Bierkade, or 'beer quay', forms the eastern edge of the centre. At Bierkade 10 is the Kachelmuseum, the museum for ovens, stoves, hearths, and cooking ranges, a small museum is run by volunteers, with limited opening times.
Kachelmuseum, Bierkade 10, 1811 NJ Alkmaar. Tel. 072-5159418. Open April to September, Friday to Sunday, 12.00 - 16.00, the rest of the year only on Sunday, 12.00 - 16.00. Entrance € 1,50, children under 12 free. The building itself was formerly a brewery, and before that a prominent house. The facade dates from 1716, and was probably built for the mayor of Alkmaar, Adriaen Sevenhuyzen Sijmonz.
At Bierkade 23 is the Accijnstoren or Excise Tower, built 1622. This quayside was formerly the enclosed harbour of Alkmaar, and as in much of Europe, the city had its own import duties. (The abolition of internal tolls and excise duties was a prominent demand of 19th-century liberalism). The Excise Tower was, despite its form, essentially an office building. The square brick tower has stone bands, and is capped by a balconied wooden bell tower (for a tocsin, or alarm bell). The tower is not on its original site: it was built closer to the houses, Because the narrow quay was an obstacle for the increasing motor traffic, the entire tower was moved outwards in 1924, by sliding it on rails.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Alkmaar
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Alkmaar - updated May 2024
SAVE up to 75% on Last Minute deals! Search for discount Alkmaar hotels, motels, apartments, hostels, guest accommodations and vacation resorts. Book now and pay at the hotel. Instant email confirmation!
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.
