From city to polder

Explore the cozy courtyards of Alkmaar, cycle along the old canals and discover the narrow streets. Don't miss a visit to the traditional cheese market, for which the"Cheese City\\\" became so famous, and soak up the atmosphere of the historic center, which has hundreds of beautiful municipal and national monuments. The city center and the Westerhoutkwartier are a protected cityscape for a reason! There are four windmills (Strijkmolen B, Strijkmolen C, Strijkmolen D and Strijkmolen E) together in Alkmaar, but there were once a total of fourteen of these mills on this site. Three of the four mills are ground sailers that were built in 1630. Only Strijkmolen E was installed two years earlier, making it the oldest of these four mills. The ironing mills are located on the Molenkade and pumped the water from various polders to the Schermerboezem. Now the mill is owned by the Molenstichting Alkmaar eo Outside Alkmaar it all looks very different. Enjoying cycling through the polders means a view of tight plots that are separated by perpendicular ditches and gullies. It is an ingenious piece of water management of which there are about 4000 in the Netherlands. The water level is artificially regulated and is lower than in the surrounding areas. The water level is regulated by polder mills, pumping stations or drainage sluices. Where the water has to be higher, weirs can be used to achieve a fixed, higher water level. The Noordermolen, which was probably built in 1589 as a replacement for the one that was destroyed in 1573, drains the Groot-Limmerpolder. He does this on a voluntary basis in 2014. The ground sailer was originally an indoor porter, but it was converted into an upper porter in the 19th century.