Monumental Route

Description

1. On either side of the Zaan bridge between Wormer and Wormerveer stretches a unique industrial façade with pack houses and rice and barley mills from around 1900. The opening of the North Sea Canal in 1877 made the Zaan region easily accessible for ships carrying grain and wood from all over the world. Some property names refer to exotic places where the products came from. The industrial façade wall was restored and returned to its original state in the 1990s. Inside the warehouses, various businesses have sprung up that no longer have anything to do with their original function. North of the Zaan bridge is the complex of the former rice husking plant Hollandia. South, you can see the complex of barley husking mill Mercurius, which now houses Lassie, the only rice husking factory still in operation

2. The black, wooden pakhuis Koningsbergen in East Knollendam stands out among the predominantly brick monuments in the area. It dates from the mid-18th century and stood as a warehouse on the Zwet until 1889. After moving to this spot, it stored seed. The name refers to a town in East Prussia with which trade was conducted

3. For much of the route, you have the Polder Wormer, Jisp and Neck - a protected nature reserve - on your right. To keep the polder dry, many ditches were dug. This turned the polder into a watery area full of peat islands accessible by boat: a paradise for meadow and water birds. A large part is managed in such a way that meadow birds such as black-tailed godwit, lapwing, bittern and spoonbill can thrive there. Grazing cattle keep the meadows open and, thanks to organic manure, the soil is rich in worms: a delicacy for meadow birds.

4. The aircraft memorial was erected[1] by Purmeren resident Just Kroon to commemorate the crew[1] of three Allied bombers[1] that crashed here in 1943 and 1944. The eye-catcher is the accidentally deformed pro[1]peller of one of the planes

5. An important monument is the small raadhuis in Jisp. It is tangible evidence of prosperity in the period of whaling. The raadhuis hall lies on the road ditch, which in 2012 was the only ditch in the Netherlands to be granted monument status. Jisp was known not only for whaling, but also for its surgeons, who were highly skilled in treating broken bones, among other things.

6. Wormer originated around the Reformed church. Inn Het Moriaanshoofd, built in 1585, is Wormer's oldest building. The stately koopmanshuis from 1660 bears witness to Wormer's prosperity. In 1805, this koopmanshuis became Wormer's raadhuis and has been used as a residence again since 1997.

7. The Bartelsluis looks a bit pathetic: filled in and poorly maintained. Its heyday, from 1638 to 1960, is also long gone. In Wormer, ship's rusks, also known as two-buckets, were baked in those days. No fewer than eight corn mills ground the flour that was processed by 130 rusk bakers into provisions for fishing and trading ships. Special barges transported the rusk through the locks to customers in the big cities. When ship rusk was no longer needed, paper factory Van Gelder & zn made frequent use of the lock until 1960. In 1972, the lock was filled in.