Monnickendam

Joan Blaeu's map of Monnickendam, developed in 1649

Monnikendam was also the name of a number of warships built at the port of the same name during the Anglo-Dutch Wars.

The town was founded by monks,[4] the name Monnickendam translates as 'Monk's dam'.

Monnickendam was a separate municipality until 1991, when it was merged into Waterland.[5] Although it is a small fishing village today, it was an important port in earlier centuries. It possesses a seventeenth-century weigh house, once used by merchants and port officials, and a bell tower that dates from 1591. The fourteenth century church of St. Nicholas, renovated in 1602, is particularly notable. The synagogue was built in 1894.[6] Jewish families named Monnikendam trace their roots to this town.

The town was the site of an artist's colony in the early twentieth century.

Monnickendam hosts a number of industries, many related to its history and proximity to the Markermeer. Notably, the city is home to the Royal Hakvoort Shipyards that has operated for over a century, first catering to the local fishing industry by building vessels for their purpose, and later moving into luxury and pleasure crafts.[7]

Other notable organisations include Leguit + Roos, specialising in the renovation and restoration of historical buildings that are plenty in the Waterland area.[8]

In recent developments, the derelict business quarter of Galgeriet was demolished in order to make space for the development of new residential buildings. The Dutch government has subsidised this development with € 6,420,240, with the hope of creating 700 homes as well as additional commercial spaces to both alleviate the ailing demography and provide an impetus for further economic growth.[9]

In 2001, the town of Monnickendam had 9,546 inhabitants. The built-up area of the town was 1.34 km² (0.52 sq mi), and contained 3,766 residences.[10] The wider statistical area of Monnickendam has a population of around 9,680.[11]

• Wendelmoet Claesdochter, first female martyr during the Reformation, killed in a 1527 in The Hague
• Cornelis Dirkszoon, mayor of Monnickendam during the Eighty Years' War
• Hermann Jung (1608–1678), prominent Lutheran theologian and preacher
• Simon Lambrechtszoon Mau, captain of the Duyfken who led the first expedition to the Dutch East Indies using a route around Africa
• Marlou van Rhijn, two-time 200 metre gold medal winner at the 2012 and 2016 Paralympics

• 
  Monk sculpture at the bridge near de Waag
• 
  Church: de Grote of Sint Nicolaaskerk
• 
  Tower (de Speeltoren) and de Waag
• 
  View to the port
• 
  View to a street (het Noordeinde)
• 
  View to the grachten

• Museum de Speeltoren

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Monnickendam.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Monnickendam.

• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Monnikendam" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 18 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 629.