You can still feel the Golden Age in this city on the IJsselmeer. In the 17th century Hoorn was very important to the Dutch East India Company.
Whaling was the most important activity during the 17th century. The ships were in the Atlantic Ocean around Greenland from June to September.
There are still dozens of monuments and churches from this rich period. The Hoofdtoren is a large defensive tower, built in 1532. It was built to protect the city and later as the office of the Dutch East India Company.
In 1573 the Battle of the Zuiderzee against the Spanish enemy took place on the sea off the coast of Hoorn. The defeated commander Count Bossu was imprisoned in Hoorn for three years. A row of beautiful houses was built in 1613 in memory of the battle. Each house has a stone plaque in top with an image of the battle.
During the execution of convicts a lot of blood was shed and hence the name Roode Steen. There is also the Westfries Museum, about the golden age in the city of seafarers.
At De Waag. built 1609, Dutch cheeses were weighed for centuries. The Hoorn cheese market is the oldest in the Netherlands.
VOC celebrity Jan Pieterszoon Coen from Hoorn is represented with a statue. He is now controversial. The politically correct municipality has placed an explanatory text on the pedestal: “According to critics, Coen’s violent trade policy in the Indies archipelago deserves no tribute.”