Heiloo () is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

and

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an or ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Neth ...

, located in the province of

North Holland North Holland ( nl, Noord-Holland, ) is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevoland. In November 2019, it had a ...

. The community is part of the cooperation region

Kennemerland Kennemerland is a coastal region in the northwestern Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It includes the sand dunes north of the North Sea Canal, as well as the dunes of Zuid-Kennemerland National Park. History Kennemerland gets it ...

and is located in the historical region of West Friesland. Heiloo had a population of in .

Origins of the name

Heiloo (from the Dutch ''heilige loo'', "sacred forest") was given its name because

Saint Willibrord Willibrord (; 658 – 7 November AD 739) was an Anglo-Saxon missionary and saint, known as the "Apostle to the Frisians" in the modern Netherlands. He became the first bishop of Utrecht and died at Echternach, Luxembourg. Early life His father, ...

was said to have performed a miracle there around 690 and created a church on a small hill.

Notable attractions

It has a town hall dating from 1926 and a church from the 12th century known as the ''Witte Kerk''. In the late Middle Ages, after a miracle, a Marian shrine came into being for Our Lady to Need (''Onze Lieve Vrouwe ter Nood''). The chapel was partially destroyed in 1573 during the Spanish Siege of Alkmaar, and it was completely demolished in 1637. Before it was razed to the ground, the Alkmaar painte
Gerrit Pietersz. de Jongh
depicted a family on a pilgrimage at the ruins of the single wall left remaining after the siege. Pilgrimage started to flourish again in 1713 when a spring started to sprout where the chapel had stood. The Marian sanctuary, situated outside the village in a so-called procession park, is one of the major pilgrimage destinations in the Netherlands, attracting pilgrims mainly from the diocese of Haarlem-Amsterdam. In the 1950s and 1960s the population grew quickly as many residents of Amsterdam moved to the area. Many residents work and attend school in the neighbouring city of

Alkmaar Alkmaar () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland, about 30 km north of Amsterdam. Alkmaar is well known for its traditional cheese market. For tourists, it is a popular cultural destination. The ...

Sporting clubs

* FCC Boscrossers – The local BMX club that has produced 5 World Champions, 4 European Champions and many National Champions, the current (2013) 17-24-year-old Double World Champion for 20" and Cruiser Class is Robin Van Der Kolk, who won both titles in Auckland New Zealand. * AV Trias – The local athletics club that has produced 2 Olympic athletes, Lisanne de Witte and Laura de Witte.

Local government

The

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural council ...

of Heiloo consists of 19 seats, which are divided as follows: * Heiloo 2000 – 3 seats *

VVD The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie ; VVD) is a conservative-liberal Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin ''Politics and Governance in the Netherlands'', Basingstoke (Palgrave) p.49 political party i ...

– 4 seats * CDA – 2 seats * PvdA – 2 seats * Heiloo Local – 2 seats * GBH – 3 seats * D66 - 3 seats Current mayor: Mascha ten Bruggencate (D66).

Railway connections

Heiloo is connected to the Dutch railway network by Heiloo railway station. From this station there are many destinations available such as:

Hoorn Hoorn () is a city and municipality in the northwest of the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is the largest town and the traditional capital of the region of West Friesland. Hoorn is located on the Markermeer, 20 kilometers ...

Uitgeest Uitgeest () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Population centres The municipality of Uitgeest consists of the following cities, towns, villages and/or districts: Topography ''Dutch topograp ...

Zaandam Zaandam () is a city in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is the main city of the municipality of Zaanstad, and received city rights in 1811. It is located on the river Zaan, just north of Amsterdam. The statistical district Zaanda ...

, Amsterdam,

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Nethe ...

's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of t ...

Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

Weert Weert (; li, Wieërt ) is a municipality and city in the southeastern Netherlands located in the western part of the province of Limburg. It lies on the Eindhoven–Maastricht railway line, and is also astride the Zuid-Willemsvaart canal. P ...

Roermond Roermond (; li, Remunj or ) is a city, municipality, and diocese in the Limburg province of the Netherlands. Roermond is a historically important town on the lower Roer on the east bank of the river Meuse. It received town rights in 1231. R ...

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...

and

Heerlen Heerlen (; li, Heële ) is a city and a municipality in the southeast of the Netherlands. It is the third largest settlement proper in the province of Limburg. Measured as municipality, it is the fourth municipality in the province of Limbur ...

. For the

Zaanse Schans Zaanse Schans () is a neighbourhood of Zaandam, near Zaandijk, Netherlands. It is best known for its collection of windmills and wooden houses that were relocated here from the wider region north of Amsterdam for preservation. From 1961 to 1974, ol ...

, you should travel to Uitgeest and change onto a train to Koog-Zaandijk There used to be a second stop on the railway line between Heiloo and

Limmen Limmen is a town in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Castricum, and is situated about 9 km southwest of Alkmaar. Before 2002 it was a separate municipality. History Limmen has been mentioned in various ...

. Until October 2013 it was used once a month to bring pilgrims to the nearby

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common type ...

. The name of both station and chapel is 'Onze lieve vrouwe ter nood' or 'Our Lady to Need'; the station was known as Runxputte until 1914. One of the platforms was demolished in 1997 for safety reasons.

Notable residents

* Jos van Kemenade (1937-2020) politician and sociologist * Jos Brink (1942–2007), television and theater personality *

Guus Janssen Guus Janssen (born 13 May 1951) is a Dutch composer of contemporary music and a recording artist. A pianist and harpsichordist, he is also active as a jazz performer. He studied piano and composition at the Sweelinck Academy of Music in Amster ...

(born 1951), composer and pianist * Jacques Zoon (born 1961), flautist * Maarten van Roozendaal (1962–2013) a Dutch singer, comedian and songwriter *

Lars Oostveen Lars Oostveen (born 6 September 1976 in Heiloo, Netherlands), also known by his pseudonym Lawrence Ray, is a Dutch presenter, producer and actor. He is best known for his stint as a VJ at MTV Europe, and his role as Vico Maesland in the Dutch TV se ...

(born 1976) stage name ''Lawrence Ray'', is a Dutch presenter, producer and actor IMDb Database
retrieved 25 January 2020 20160706 EK Laura de Witte

Sport

* Ron Zwerver (born 1967) a retired volleyball player, competed in three consecutive Summer Olympics * Michael Duursma (born 1978), baseball player * Laura de Witte (born 1995), sprinter * Joris Kramer (born 1996) a Dutch footballer with over 100 club caps * Thomas Ouwejan (born 1996) Dutch footballer currently playing for

AZ Alkmaar Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known as AZ Alkmaar or simply AZ (), is a Dutch professional football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan district. The club plays in the Eredivisie, the highest professional football league in the Netherlands, and host ...

Gallery

File:Sint Paulus, Heiloo.JPG, Sint Paulus, Heiloo File:Brug tussen het hoekstuk en de vlei - Heiloo 5-5-2009 - panoramio.jpg, Brug tussen het hoekstuk en de vlei - Heiloo File:S.M. Glorieux, Heiloo.JPG, S.M. Glorieux, Heiloo File:Voorgevel en rechter zijgevel - Heiloo - 20396796 - RCE.jpg, Voorgevel en rechter zijgevel - Heiloo

References

External links

*
Official website
{{Authority control Municipalities of North Holland Populated places in North Holland