Katwijk

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[Katwijk] (population: 61.292) is a municipality and town in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland.

On 1 January 2006, Rijnsburg and Valkenburg have been merged into the municipality.

The municipality now covers an area of 85 km² (of which 19 km² water). It shares its borders with the municipalities of Noordwijk, Teylingen, Oegstgeest, Leiden, and Wassenaar.

The town Katwijk consists of Katwijk aan den Rijn, Katwijk aan Zee, Hoornes-Rijnsoever, Rijnsburg and Valkenburg. Katwijk aan Zee has a sandy beach.

The RijnGouweLijn is planned to connect Katwijk with Leiden and beyond.

Katwijk, 10 km NW. of Leiden and 16 km N. of The Hague, is a popular coastal resort and former fishing village. Like Urk, Spakenburg and Staphorst, the old Katwijk aan Zee is regarded a bastion of strict Protestants, although a minority of the population is actually Christian. Close by are the locks constructed in 1807 by the engineer, F. W. Conrad (d. 1808), through which the Rhine (here called the Uitwateringskanaal) flows to the sea. The shore and the entrance to the canal are strengthened by dikes.

Katwijk – not Leiden as is often mistakenly claimed – is the site of the Roman city of Lugdunum Batavorum. In 1520 a Roman camp known as the Brittenburg was discovered here. It was square in shape, each side measuring 75 m, and the remains stood about 3 m high. By the middle of the 18th century it had been destroyed and covered by the sea.

Katwijk is the birthplace and hometown of the Dutch Footballstar Dirk Kuijt.

Katwijk is also the landing place for a large number of international and intercontinental Transatlantic telephone cables such as the TAT-14.

Tourist Attractions

The most famous part of Katwijk is, however, the beach. On warm summer days, many people go there to take a fresh bath in the sea.
Besides the beach, there are a few museums in Katwijk, like the old fishermans museum Katwijks Museum, the Spinoza-museum and the Space Expo, the museum of the ESA. Also, around the Valkenburg-lake, a museum steam tram ride can be taken after a visit to the Narrow gauge museum.
The theme park Duinrell is very close to Katwijk and can be reached by direct bus line. Katwijk has many hotels and two campings, both situated in the dunes.

External links

• [Official Website]
• [Site for the youth of Katwijk]
• http://www.sdu.nl/staatscourant/gemeentes/gem255zh.htm
• [Detailed Cito-plan map]
• [History of Katwijk]

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