Discover Monnickendam

1 The Grote Kerk

We begin at the Grote Kerk, also known as St. Nicholas Church. Construction began around 1400, at the same time as the neighbouring Mariëngaarde monastery. On the site of the current cemetery, Frisian monks once lived, likely where Monnickendam ("monks' dam") gets its name.

The tower was only completed around 1550, just before the Iconoclasm and the Reformation. The church became Protestant, so the Catholic statues of the twelve apostles and Saint Nicholas were never placed in the tower's niches. It is remarkably large for a town of this size: Monnickendam gained city rights in 1355 and grew wealthy through international trade. Buried here is Mayor Cornelis Dirkszoon, who in 1573, with the Watergeuzen, defeated the Spanish fleet at the Battle of the Zuiderzee.

2 The Speeltoren

The tower before you dates from 1591. At the top stands a winged figure called Fame, who once announced arriving travellers. Below her, the "Little Riders" rotate every hour on the hour, hence the nickname Speeltoren, or "play tower."

Its carillon is the oldest playable carillon in the world still in its original state. The slightly out-of-tune sound comes from the bells having been cast before the physical laws of tuning were discovered. Monnickendam decided never to retune or replace them, so what you hear is the authentic sound of the sixteenth century.

3 The harbour & the eel smoker

At the harbour stands the statue of the eel smoker by local artist Rob Cerneus. Fishing drove the local economy for centuries, and in the smokehouses along the quay, the hangen, eel was smoked over a mix of oak and beech wood. The tradition lives on during the Monnickendam Fish Days and the annual Jan Haring Race, where smokers compete for the title of best fish smoker. The smell of smoked fish is inseparable from the town.