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Volendam () is a fishing town in the
municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
of
Edam-Volendam Edam-Volendam () is a municipality in the northwest Netherlands, in the province of North Holland, primarily consisting of the towns of Edam and Volendam. It is situated on the western shore of the Markermeer, just north of Waterland. In 2019, ...
,
province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...
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 ...
. As of 1 January 2021, it has a population of 22,715. It is twinned with
Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...
, England.


History

Originally, Volendam was the location of the harbour of the nearby Edam, which was situated at the mouth of the IJ bay. In 1357, the inhabitants of Edam dug a shorter canal to 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 o ...
with its own separate harbour. This removed the need for the original harbour, which was then dammed and used for
land reclamation Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamati ...
. Farmers and local fishermen settled there, forming the new community of Vollendam, which translates to 'Full dam'. In the early part of the 20th century Volendam became something of an artists' retreat, with both
Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
and
Renoir Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that "Re ...
spending time here. The majority of the population belongs to the Roman
Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, which is deeply connected to the village culture. Historically, many
missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...
and
bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
s grew up in Volendam. Today there is the chapel of Our Lady of the Water, which is located in a village park. Oolijke Volendamsche deerntjes.jpg, Little girls of Volendam in traditional costumes, 1906 Costumes-Maroesjka-Heeze-1989.jpg, Dutch traditional costumes displayed at a folklife festival. The Volendam costumes are the first two on the left


New Year's café fire

In the
New Year New Year is the time or day currently at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count increments by one. Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner. In the Gregorian calendar, the most widely used calendar system to ...
's night of 2000 to 2001, the lighting of a bundle of
sparkler A sparkler is a type of hand-held firework that burns slowly while emitting bright, intense colored flames, sparks, and other effects. Sparklers are particularly popular with children. In the United Kingdom, a sparkler is often used by chil ...
s caused a short but intense fire at a party in café De Hemel. The sparklers ignited the dry Christmas decorations on the ceiling, which fell down in their entirety. 14 people died and 200 people were seriously injured.


Tourism

Volendam is a popular tourist attraction in the Netherlands, well known for its old fishing boats and the traditional clothing still worn by some residents. The women's costume of Volendam, with its high, pointed bonnet, is one of the most recognizable of the Dutch traditional costumes, and is often featured on tourist postcards and posters (although there are believed to be fewer than 50 women now wearing the costume as part of their daily lives, most of them elderly). There is a regular ferry connection to
Marken Marken (; Marken's dialect: ''Mereke'') is a village in the municipality of Waterland in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It had a population of 1,745 as of 2021, and occupies a peninsula in the Markermeer. It was, until 1957, an isla ...
, a
peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...
close by. Volendam also features a small museum about its history and clothing style, and visitors can have their pictures taken in traditional Dutch costumes.


Film

Volendam was a shooting location in
Vikas Bahl Vikas Bahl is an Indian filmmaker, best known for directing and scripting the comedy drama film ''Queen'' (2013). Early life and education Bahl was born and brought up in Lajpat Nagar in Delhi, and his father worked with the Indian Oil Corpor ...
's 2014
Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...
film, ''
Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
''. The actors established an Indian food shop called Rani's Gol Gappa. The owner was an Italian, Marco Canadea, as Marcello. Working with Marco was Mish Boyko as Oleksander (Sikander),
Jeffrey Ho Jeffrey may refer to: * Jeffrey (name), including a list of people with the name * ''Jeffrey'' (1995 film), a 1995 film by Paul Rudnick, based on Rudnick's play of the same name * ''Jeffrey'' (2016 film), a 2016 Dominican Republic documentary film ...
as Taka, and Joseph Guitobh as Tim. The role of Queen was played by Indian actress
Kangana Ranaut Kangna Amardeep Ranaut (; born 23 March 1987) is an Indian actress and filmmaker who works in Hindi films. Known for her work in female-led films, she is the recipient of several awards, including four National Film Awards and five Filmfar ...
.


Sports

FC Volendam is a
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
club based in Volendam, which has regularly played in the Dutch
Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...
. FC Volendam promoted to the Eredivisie in 2022 after a 13 year stint in the
Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the ...
).


Music

Volendam is also well known for its distinctive music, which is called
Palingsound Palingsound (; 'European eel sound') is the unique musical sound attributed to a subgenre of Dutch pop music called palingpop. It is sometimes used to refer to the palingpop genre as a whole. History Origin The Cats (1964 -1985) are univers ...
(literally "
eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...
sound") in reference to Volendam's status as a fishing village. During the 1960s, the local group
The Cats ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
was a very popular group in the Netherlands and abroad. Another band from Volendam was
BZN BZN (''Band Zonder Naam''; Dutch for "Band Without Name") was a Dutch pop group that had a string of hits from 1966 to 2007 on. BZN recorded mostly in English and French, but also had success with material in Dutch and German. History BZN star ...
, which became popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1995 BZN performed a duet with the ten-year-old Jan Smit, who quickly became a celebrity in his own right. The popular music groups
3JS 3JS (, ; ) is a Dutch band from Volendam, currently consisting of Jan Dulles, Jaap Kwakman and Robin Küller. The band rose to fame in 2007 after the success of their debut album ''Watermensen'', which they had recorded with their friends Jan Smi ...
and
Nick & Simon Nick & Simon are a Dutch singer-songwriter duo composed of Simon Keizer and Nick Schilder. They became popular in their home country the Netherlands in 2006. Their album ''Luister'' (''Listen'') reached double platinum status in four months. I ...
are famously from Volendam, whose members have all participated in local musical performances through the years.


Born in Volendam

*
Gerrie Mühren Gerardus ("Gerrie") Dominicus Hyacinthus Maria Mühren (2 February 1946 – 19 September 2013) was a Dutch footballer who played as a midfielder. He was the older brother of Arnold Mühren, who likewise played for the Netherlands national team ...
(born 1946), international footballer * Jan Keizer (born 1949), singer *
Arnold Mühren Arnold Johannes Hyacinthus Mühren (born 2 June 1951) is a Dutch football manager and former midfielder. His older brother Gerrie, also a midfield player, won three European Cup titles with Ajax in the early 1970s. Mühren is among the few play ...
(born 1951), international footballer *
Pier Tol Kees "Pier" Tol (born 12 July 1958) is a Dutch retired international footballer who made over 300 professional appearances in the Dutch league, scoring over 100 goals. Club career Born in Volendam, Tol played professionally for FC Volendam, A ...
(born 1958), international footballer * Carla Braan (born 1961), gymnastCarla Braan Biography and Olympic Results
/ref> *
Carola Smit Carola Sier-Smit (born 1 September 1963) is a Dutch singer and was a member of Dutch pop band BZN from 1984 until 2007 when the band disbanded. Biography Musical career Smit was born Volendam, and began her musical career in 1980 (at age 17), w ...
(born 1963), singer *
Wim Jonk Wilhelmus Maria "Wim" Jonk (born 12 October 1966) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player, who is the current head coach of Eerste Divisie club FC Volendam. In his career as a midfielder, he won a variety of national honours ...
(born 1966), international footballer *
Nick Schilder Nicolaas Maria "Nick" Schilder (born 6 November 1983) is a Dutch singer-songwriter. Together with Simon Keizer, he forms a duo called Nick & Simon. Biography Career Nick was born in Volendam, into a musical family which has produced other famous ...
(born 1983), singer *
Simon Keizer Simon Nicolaas (Simon) Keizer (Volendam, born 16 May 1984) is a Dutch singer-songwriter. Together with Nick Schilder, he formed a duo called Nick & Simon. Biography Simon wrote his first song in 2000 called ''Still Searching'', which he dedi ...
(born1984), singer * Jan Smit (born 1985), singer *
Cees Keizer Cees Keizer (born 8 January 1986) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He currently works as a youth coach with FC Volendam. Career Born in Volendam, Keizer played youth football with hometown club FC Volendam ...
(born 1986), footballer *
Janey Jacké Justin Mooijer (born 9 April 1992), known by the stage name Janey Jacké, is a Dutch drag queen, actor and presenter, most known for competing in the first season of '' Drag Race Holland'' (2020) and a spin-off season known as '' RuPaul's Drag ...
(born 1992), Drag Queen


References


External links

*
Tourist information about Volendam
(Dutch)
Tourist information about Volendam
(in English) {{Authority control Populated places in North Holland Geography of Edam-Volendam