Medemblik, the oldest town (founded in the 10th century) in what used to be West Friesland, lies on the IJsselmeer some 20km/12.5mi south of the Afsluitdijk. It received its municipal charter in 1289 and flourished particularly in the 16th and 17th centuries. Until the construction of the North Holland Canal in the 19th century it was an important port, with access to the North Sea. It now has only a yacht harbor (cruises on the IJsselmeer). Visitors can enjoy a nostalgic ride on an old steam train between Medemblik and Hoorn.
Kasteel Radboud - named after a Frisian king who built a castle here in early times - was built by Count Floris V of Holland in 1282. During the 14th and 15th centuries it served as a prison. It lost much of its importance when the town was enclosed by walls in 1572. At the end of the 19th century the castle, by then much dilapidated, was completely restored by P. J. H. Cuypers, though not in its original form.
Housed within the castle is a collection of Frisian coats of arms and paintings.
An old steam pumping station, De Vier Koggen (1869), now the Steam Engine Museum, houses a collection of steam engines used on ships and in industry, still in working order.
Features of interest are St Bonifaciuskerk, a Late Gothic hall-church (15th C.) with an old tower, which contains the tomb of Lord George Murray, a Jacobite commander at the battle of Culloden (1745) who died in exile in Medemblik; the 17th century Weigh House (Waag; used for the weighing of cheese); the Town Hall (Stadhuis; 1940); and the former Orphanage (Weeshuis), now housing the Oudheidkamer, a museum of local antiquities.
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Kasteel Radboud, Medemblik
Kasteel Radboud, Medemblik
