HOLLAND: Schoorl village & dune forest

The village of Schoorl lies on the coast of North Holland close to Alkmaar.
It is separated from the coast by the highest and widest dune range in the Netherlands.

The dunes reach about 54 m above sea level, right behind the center of Schoorl, and are more than 5 km wide.

Traditionally, farmers collected sand from the dunes to mix it with the clay of the polders.

As a result, sandy spaces developed that are also known as 'climbing dunes'. Children in particular have a whale of a time climbing up and tumbling down the hills - the largest sandpit in the Netherlands.

Schoorl is a major local tourism location in the summer and counts over 25 campsites, the largest concentration of campsites in the Netherlands.

The village, earlier named Scorel contains evidence of a long history in the form of the old council house aging from 1601. There's also a 17th century reformed church.

The Dutch painter and evangelist Jan van Scorel was born here. Jan van Scorel (1495-1562) was an influential Dutch painter credited with the introduction of High Italian Renaissance art to the Netherlands.

May 21, 2010