Demonym(s) Velsenaar Area code 023, 0251, 0255 | Elevation 6 m (20 ft) Time zone CET (UTC+1) Local time Sunday 2:43 AM | |
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Postcode 1950–1951, 1970–1992, 2070–2082 Weather 9°C, Wind S at 13 km/h, 86% Humidity Points of interest Fort bij IJmuiden, Brederode Castle, Bunker Museum IJmuiden, Noordpier, IJmuider Zee‑ en Havenmuseum | ||
Velsen ( [ˈvɛlzə(n)]) is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is located on both sides of the North Sea Canal.
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Map of Velsen, Netherlands
On the north side of the North Sea Canal there is a major steel plant, Tata Steel IJmuiden, formerly known as Koninklijke Hoogovens (the town of IJmuiden is actually located south of the canal). The headquarters of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Redding Maatschappij is located in IJmuiden.
The Kennemerstrand beach on the south side of the canal is at the end of the Kennemerboulevard, which runs south of the Seaport Marina.
To the south is the beach of Bloemendaal aan Zee. In between is a nude beach.
Population centres
The municipality of Velsen consists of the following cities, towns, villages and/or districts:
Dutch topographic map of the municipality of Velsen, June 2015
Transport
In Velsen, there are the following connections across the North Sea Canal:
Also there used to be the Fast Flying Ferry to Amsterdam. There used to be a railway link between IJmuiden and Amsterdam, the IJmondlijn until 1999, when it was closed.
Local government
The municipal council of Velsen consists of 33 seats, which are divided now (2010) as follows:
History
The ruins of a Roman naval base at Velsen are believed to be ancient Flevum, which is listed as Phleoum, Romanized to Phleum, in Ptolemy (2.10).
Twin towns
Velsen is twinned with the port city of Galle in southern Sri Lanka and city of Bergisch Gladbach in the west of Germany.