Bicycle route through The Beemster

Purmerend is a town in the Waterland region. This low-lying peat meadow area is characterized by its many ditches and canals. Still in the heart of town, you ride along the Where. Outside the center, you cycle along the North Holland Canal. Over the centuries there have been many floods. Because it was such a wet and swampy area where arable farming was no longer possible, farmers then turned to livestock farming. Only when the afsluitdijk protected the land has there been no more flooding since 1932. You will pass the Fort near Spijkerboor. This is the northernmost, and also the largest, of the 42 fortifications around Amsterdam and is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. A little further on is De Rijp. A place that was very prosperous thanks to whaling and herring fishing. When the surrounding areas were reclaimed, the connection with the sea disappeared. One of the reclaimed areas is De Beemster. Drained in 1612, this polder was placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1999. For three hundred years the polder was kept dry with 50 polder mills. In the early twentieth century, they were all replaced by pumping stations. This area is unique and great for biking through.