The Spaarne is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body 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 ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. This partially

canalized River engineering is a discipline of civil engineering which studies human intervention in the course, characteristics, or flow of a river with the intention of producing some defined benefit. People have intervened in the natural course and ...

river connects the Ringvaart to a side branch of the North Sea Canal. It runs through

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...

Heemstede Heemstede () is a town and a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is the fourth richest municipality of the Netherlands. History Heemstede formed around the Castle ''Heemstede'' that was built overlooking the ...

, and Spaarndam. The historic canals of Haarlem's moats are connected to the Spaarne. A lock at Spaarndam separates it from the North Sea Canal. According to Sterck-Proot, a historian, the name Spaarne probably comes from ''Spier'', which means

reed Reed or Reeds may refer to: Science, technology, biology, and medicine * Reed bird (disambiguation) * Reed pen, writing implement in use since ancient times * Reed (plant), one of several tall, grass-like wetland plants of the order Poales * ...

in old Dutch.

History

The river formerly flowed from the Haarlemmermeer (Haarlem Lake) to the IJ, which used to extend from the

Zuiderzee The Zuiderzee or Zuider Zee (; old spelling ''Zuyderzee'' or ''Zuyder Zee'') was a shallow bay of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands, extending about 100 km (60 miles) inland and at most 50 km (30 miles) wide, with an ov ...

all the way to

Velsen Velsen () is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is located on both sides of the North Sea Canal. On the north side of the North Sea Canal there is a major steel plant, Tata Steel IJmuiden, formerly known a ...

. In the 13th century, a dam with

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

s was constructed at the mouth of the Spaarne where the village of Spaarndam then formed. After a century of planning, Haarlem's Lake was pumped dry in 3 years from 1850–1853 and made into a

polder A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as dikes. The three types of polder are: # Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a lake or the seabed # Flood plains ...

. The Spaarne became a branch of the Ringvaart, lost much of its flow, and became shallower. The construction of the North Sea Canal (completed in 1876) reduced most of the IJ Bay into polders but a small canalized section of the IJ remained at Spaarndam to connect the Spaarne to the new canal. The river was deepened for the benefit of industries along its shores.

Places of interest along the riverbanks

At the juncture of the river and the ringvaart is the Cruquius Museum, a museum that resides in one of the three original pumping stations from 1850.

Steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be ...

s were used to pump the water out from the Haarlemmermeer polder. On the Heemstede side of the juncture is the old Castle Heemstede. Traveling up the river towards Haarlem, on the Heemstede side the dome of the Hageveld high school and former Catholic seminary can be seen. Continuing under the bridge to Schalkwijk, on that side is

windmill A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called sails or blades, specifically to mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and other applications, in some ...

"De Hommel", a sawmill that is often open to the public on spring and summer weekends. Across from that on the Heemstede side is rowing club ''K.R.Z.V. Het Spaarne'' and a few buildings by J.B. van Loghem, such as ''Tuinwijk'', an early community living project sharing a garden. In the same block, entering Haarlem, is the old location of the ships architectural bureau

De Voogt Naval Architects Feadship (First Export Association of Dutch Shipbuilders) is a cooperative venture between two shipyards Royal Van Lent Shipyard and Koninklijke De Vries Scheepsbouw. Feadship designs and constructs high-end luxury yachts and is one of the leading ...

in the home of Henri de Voogt, known from Feadship. Nearing the next bridge, on the edge of the wood the Haarlemmerhout,

villa Welgelegen Villa Welgelegen is a historical building in Haarlem, the Netherlands, which currently houses the offices of the provincial executives of North Holland. Located at the north end of a public park in the city, it is an example of neoclassical ar ...

can be seen, that once had a garden all the way to the Spaarne. Once in the center of Haarlem, many historic buildings in the centre of Haarlem, including: *The

Weigh House A weighhouse or weighing house is a public building at or within which goods are weighed. Most of these buildings were built before 1800, prior to the establishment of international standards for weights, and were often a large and representative ...

of Haarlem * Hodson house * Teylers Museum *

Teylers Hofje The Teylershofje is a hofje in Haarlem, Netherlands with 24 houses. History of the foundation The current hofje was built in 1787 from the legacy of Pieter Teyler van der Hulst, just like the Teylers Museum close to it. Pieter Teyler van der ...

*Windmill " De Adriaan" *

Hofje van Noblet The Hofje van Noblet is a hofje in Haarlem, Netherlands. History It was built in 1761 from the legacy of Leonard Noblet and his sisters Sara en Geertruida. The houses in the hofje are built in the garden of the house of the Noblet family, '' ...

Image:HaarlemSpaarne1.jpg, View of downtown Haarlem with the old

weigh house A weighhouse or weighing house is a public building at or within which goods are weighed. Most of these buildings were built before 1800, prior to the establishment of international standards for weights, and were often a large and representative ...

in the middle Image:Teylersmuseum.JPG, Teyler's Museum in Haarlem on the Spaarne File:(Haarlem)The houses along the Spaarne River, Netherlands.jpg, Houses along the Spaarne River File:(Haarlem) The morden & triditional houses along the Spaarne River, Netherlands.jpg, Modern and traditional houses along the Spaarne River

References

* J.M Sterck-Proot, Tjeenk Willink, ''Haarlems oudste tijden: een vroeg-middeleeuwsch stadsbeeld'', Haarlem, 1930. *Bert Sliggers a.o., ''De loop van het Spaarne; de geschiedenis van een rivier'', Haarlem, Schuyt, 1987. {{Authority control Rivers of North Holland Geography of Haarlem Heemstede Rivers of the Netherlands