Sint Pancras ( West Frisian: ''Sundebankreas'') is a town in the northwestern

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. It is located in the municipality of

Dijk en Waard Dijk en Waard (West Frisian Dutch: ''Doik en Weard/Weerd'' or ''Dìk en Weard/Weerd'') is a municipality in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia, the Netherlands. It was formed from the merger of Heerhugowaard and Langedij ...

North Holland North Holland (, ) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht (province), Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevola ...

, about 5 km northeast of

Alkmaar Alkmaar () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland. Alkmaar is well known fo ...

History

The village was founded in the 14th century, after the village of

Vronen Vronen is a former village in the West Friesland region of North Holland. Its location is in the current municipality of Sint Pancras. The Battle of Vronen was fought on March 27, 1297 between the combined armies of the Counties of Holland and ...

was destroyed by

John I, Count of Holland John I (1284 – 10 November 1299) was Count of Holland and Zeeland as son of Count Floris V. John inherited the county in 1296 after the murder of his father. Shortly after his birth, after negotiations between Floris and King Edward I of E ...

, because West Friesland had revolted against his rule in 1297. It was first mentioned in 1433 as Pancraets, and refers to

Pancras of Rome Pancras (Latin: ''Sanctus Pancratius'') was a Roman citizen who converted to Christianity and was beheaded for his faith at the age of fourteen, around the year 304. His name is Greek ( ), meaning 'all-powerful'. From an early period, Pancras wa ...

. The Dutch Reformed church is a single aisled cruciform church from the 16th century. In 1604, the tower burnt down and a

lantern tower In architecture, the lantern tower is a tall construction above the junction of the four arms of a cruciform (cross-shaped) church, with openings through which light from outside can shine down to the crossing (so it also called a crossing lante ...

was constructed as a replacement. The ''

polder A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrology, hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as levee, dikes. The three types of polder are: # Land reclamation, Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a ...

'' mill A was built in 1663. It was one of ten wind mills to drain the excess water from the polder and the only one remaining. It became obsolete in 1926. In 2010, it was restored to working order, however the drainage canal had been filled up. In 2018, pipes were laid to allow the wind mill to operate again. Sint Pancras was home to 330 people in 1840. It was a separate municipality from 1817 to 1990, when it was merged with

Langedijk Langedijk (; West Frisian Dutch: ''Langedìk'') is a former municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West Friesland (region), West-Frisia. Langedijk received City rights in the Netherlands, city rights ...

. In 2022, it became part of the new municipality of

Gallery

File:Kerkplein 2, Sint Pancras.jpg, Former town hall File:Sint Pancras - Molen A.jpg, Wind mill A

References

{{Authority control Former municipalities of North Holland Populated places in North Holland Geography of Dijk en Waard