Country Netherlands Demonym(s) Heilooënaar, Heilooër Postcode 1850–1852 Area 18.99 km² Province North Holland | Elevation 3 m (10 ft) Time zone CET (UTC+1) Website www.heiloo.nl Local time Sunday 8:07 AM Area code 072 | |
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Weather 9°C, Wind SW at 39 km/h, 95% Humidity | ||
Heiloo ( pronunciation ) is a municipality and town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The community is part of the cooperation region Kennemerland and is located in the historical region of West Friesland. Heiloo had a population of 22,620 in 2014.
Contents
- Map of Heiloo Netherlands
- Origins of the name
- Notable attractions
- Sporting Clubs
- Local government
- Railway connections
- Notable residents
- References
Map of Heiloo, Netherlands
Origins of the name
Heiloo (From the Dutch heilige loo, "sacred height") was given its name because Saint Willibrord 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 destroyed during the Reformation, however the pilgrimage started to flourish again when in the seventeenth century a source with miraculous water started to sprout. 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.
Sporting Clubs
Local government
The municipal council of Heiloo consists of 19 seats, which are divided as follows:
Current mayor: T.J. Romeyn (CDA)
Railway connections
Heiloo is connected to the Dutch railway network by Heiloo railway station. From this station there are many destinations available such as: Alkmaar, Hoorn, Uitgeest, Zaandam, Amsterdam, Utrecht, 's-Hertogenbosch, Eindhoven, The Hague, Weert, Roermond, Maastricht and Heerlen. For the Zaanse Schans, 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. Until October 2013 it was used once a month to bring pilgrims to the nearby chapel. 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.