Limmen is a town in the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

province of

North Holland North Holland ( nl, Noord-Holland, ) is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevoland. In November 2019, it had a ...

. It is a part of the municipality of Castricum, and is situated about 9 km southwest of

Alkmaar Alkmaar () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland, about 30 km north of Amsterdam. Alkmaar is well known for its traditional cheese market. For tourists, it is a popular cultural destination. The ...

. Before 2002 it was a separate municipality.

History

Limmen has been mentioned in various documents since 750, by the name Limbon and later Limmen. It has seen prosperous times, but also times of struggle. When the people of Limmen became more dependent on agriculture instead of trade at the beginning of the 15th century, the more wealthy moved away. For three centuries Limmen did not develop or grow, despite some efforts made to make the town more attractive. Around the year 1850 Limmen had only 450 inhabitants left. Limmen was made more accessible in the late 19th century as an effect of the growing Dutch infrastructure, making Limmen a growing town. More work was created, especially by growing bulbs, which made Limmen the so-called "bollencentrum" (bulb-centre) of the northern part of Holland.

Flower Days

The annual "Bloemendagen" (Flower Days) are a tradition in Limmen in the month of May. People living there make mosaics with the flowers of the ''

Hyacinthus orientalis ''Hyacinthus orientalis'', the common hyacinth, garden hyacinth or Dutch hyacinth, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae, native to southwestern Asia, southern and central Turkey, northwestern Syria, ...

'' and set up the mosaics in front of their house. People from around the Netherlands come to visit Limmen these days
Bloemendagen Limmen
The village also has a botanical museum, called Hortus Bulborum. This is a collection garden with it 4,000 spring-flowering historical bulbs. This collection consists primarily of tulips, narcissus and hyacinths, but there is also a small number of Fritillaria and crocus, primarily the C.vernus types. In addition to functioning as a gene bank, the garden has a seasonal display of thousands of heirloom bulbs, some of which are no longer in commercial production. Certain tulips originated in the 16th century. https://hortus-bulborum.nl/

Sister cities

Spitak Spitak ( hy, Սպիտակ), is a town and urban municipal community in the northern Lori Province of Armenia. It is north of the capital, Yerevan, and west of the provincial center, Vanadzor. Spitak was entirely destroyed during the devastati ...

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

, since 2001.10th anniversary of Armenian and Dutch sister cities marked in the Netherlands
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Gallery

File:Dutch style house at Limmen - panoramio.jpg, Farm in Limmen File:Limmen - panoramio (3).jpg, Houses of Limmen File:Dusseldorperweg 74 Limmen.jpg, Catholic clergy house File:Zuidkerkerkenlaan 23 Limmen.JPG, Dutch Reformed church

References

{{Authority control Municipalities of the Netherlands disestablished in 2002 Former municipalities of North Holland Populated places in North Holland Castricum