Zwaag (; West Frisian: ''Swaegh'') is a village in the

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

Hoorn Hoorn () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the northwest of the Netherlands, in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland. It is the largest town an ...

, the province of

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 ...

and the region of West Friesland.

History

Zwaag was founded in the 13th century. The church tower is dated to around 1500. Originally, the population consisted of sailors and artisans. Zwaag was a town then, but it lost its

city rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

after prolonged disputes with nearby

. As of the 15th century, Zwaag was village of berry growers and dairy farmers. From 1900 onwards, more and more greenhouse were built for growing flowers. In 1979 it became part of Hoorn, in order for Hoorn to expand and take up surplus population of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. Most of the land that belonged to Zwaag is now urbanized and on places where no houses are built, industrial zones have sprung up.

Trivia

* The Dorpsstraat is the main road in Zwaag. * The annual

Carnival Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre-Lenten period, consisting of Quinquagesima or Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras. Carnival typi ...

festival in Zwaag is one of the biggest in the northern parts of The Netherlands. * Notable people from Zwaag include Marco Bizot,

Ed Beers Edward Joseph "Eddy" Beers (born October 12, 1959) is a Dutch-born Canadian former professional ice hockey winger who played 250 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Calgary Flames and St. Louis Blues between 1982 and 1986. He was n ...

, Hans van Goor, Marike Groot and

Richard Tol Richard S. J. Tol (born 2 December 1969, Hoorn, the Netherlands) is a professor of economics at the University of Sussex. He is also professor of the economics of climate change at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. He is a member of the Academi ...

Gallery

Image:Raadhuis_Zwaag.jpg, Former town hall Image:NH-Kerk Zwaag.jpg, Dutch Reformed church Image:Zwaag3.jpg, ''Stolp'' farm

References

{{RefList Former municipalities of North Holland Hoorn Populated places in North Holland