Jaap van 't Veen's photos with the keyword: Medemblik

The construction of the Bonifaciuskerk (Boniface Church) started in 1404 and was completed in the 15th century. In the year of 1517 the city was attacked and burnt; the church was also destroyed, however the tower remained undamaged. After re reconstruction city and church were burnt to the ground and again the tower was spared. The rebuilding started again in 1555 in the same form as the current church. The church is a late-gothic hall church with three aisles. The tower - hundred years older than the church - got its present crowning in 1661. It has three bells, the oldest and largest has a diameter of 1,25 metres. The tower of the church is leaning, which is possibly caused by the reclamation of the Wieringermeer (a polder near Medemblik). Over the past 30 years, it has subsided by an average of 3 mm per year. Originally Sint Maarten (Saint Martin) was the second church patron, next to Sint Bonifacius (Saint Boniface). After the Reformation in 1572 the name of Bonifacius remained with the Reformed church and Sint Maarten became the principle patron of the Roman Catholic church in Medemblik.

As early as 1289, Medemblik received its city rights and the end of the 16th century it has its own harbours. Four of them are located near the city centre. The Pekelharinghaven (Salt Herring harbour) is the largest and is situated adjacent to the Radboud Castle ( www.ipernity.com/doc/294067/48611904 ). The name refers to the old harbour that was in use during the 17th and 18th centuries. After the harbour had silted up, the location was used as a sports field for many years. Until 1988 when the construction of a new marina was started, which was inaugurated in 1989. Nowadays the harbour has a total of 220 berths for yachts up to 15 meters.

Kasteel Radboud (Radboud Castle) - also knwon as Kasteel Medemblik - is located between the harbour of Medemblik and the IJsselmeer . At the end of the 13th century, Count Floris V of Holland ordered the construction of a series of castles to control the Westfrisian population. Radboud Castle is the only one remaining of those castles. When exactly it was built is unknown, but the castle was completed before the so called St. Lucia's Flood in December 1287. From old pictures and archeological research it is known that Radboud Castle must have been a strong castle. Nowadays only two residential wings, two square and one round tower are still standing. In the 14th and 15th century the counts of Holland installed guardians at the castle. Radboud Castle has never been connected to nobility but has been primarily used as a prison. The people of Medemblik used it also as a refuge. The defensive function of the castle was reduced with the building of walls around the city of Medemblik at the end of the 16th century and due to both dismantling and lack of maintenance there was attrition of the castle buildings. From 1848 the demolition of the castle buildings started. In 1889 the remains of the castle were transferred to the state and a thorough restoration followed. From 1897 till 1934 the castle was used as a courthouse. From 1964 to 1965 further restorations were done with a more historical and architectural correctness and some of the previous renovations were removed The name Radboud has been derived from the popular assumption that the castle was built on the place where in the 8th century a castle from the Frisian king Radboud had been standing. Nowadays Kasteel Radboud houses a museum, while on the ground flore there is a café/restaurant.

Vier Noorder Koggen is pumping station, which was built in 1869 to support the existing windmills in draining the water out of the land. As the land in this part of the country is about three meters lower than the average sealevel. When it was no longer possible to drain the land at low tide, the Dutch started to use windmills. But WINDmills need wind, which is not always available. Around 1850 steam power became affordable and soon steam power turned out to be cheaper than maintaining a mill. From 1869 on the auxiliary pumping station was built; just to pump when the mills could not. In 1897 the paddle wheels and archimedean screw pumps were replaced by four centrifugal pumps (two of those are still present in the building), which were replaced by two electric motors, in 1940. In 1907 the building was enlarged and a big pump was installed, driven by a gas engine. This made 15 windmills redundant. This gas engine did not satisfy and was replaced by a steam engine in 1924. The big pump still functions and can drain 450.000 liters of water a minute. The steam engines operated until the completion of an electric pumping station at Wervershoof in 1975. Nowadays the Vier Noorder Koggen houses the Nederlands Stoommachine Museum , a steam engine museum, which opened its doors in 1985. The museum features a large collection of steam engines, indoors as well as outdoors. During our visit some of the engines worked (on steam).