Alkmaar lies on the North Holland Canal, 8km/5mi from the coast of the North Sea. The charming old town center, with many fine architectural monuments and old guild-houses and burghers' houses of the 16th to 18th centuries, has been preserved unspoiled. With its famous cheese market, it is one of the best-known tourist
attractions in the Netherlands.
Alkmaar is the main center of an extensive rural area, with schools and shops which are patronized by many inhabitants of the province. Its economy depends principally on the varied range of industry established to the northeast of the town, attracted by its excellent transport facilities. The main types of industry are engineering, paper-making, textiles and foodstuffs (canning plants, chocolate manufacture), together with organ-building.
History
Alkmaar was founded in the 10th century and first appears in the records in 939. It received its municipal charter in 1254. Its heyday, however, came only after the Dutch wars of liberation from Spanish rule, in which Alkmaar played a special role, being the first town to beat off an attack by Frederick of Toledo, the Duke of Alba's son, in 1573 by opening the sluices and flooding the surrounding countryside: a victory which initiated the final defeat of the Spanish forces.
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