Bergen is a village and municipality in the Dutch province of Noord-Holland. The municipality is part of the Kennemerland cooperation region and is a popular tourist destination, mainly because of the beach and seaside resorts along the North Sea coast.
Bergen has been an artists' village since around 1900, attracting many painters, writers and architects. The Museum Kranenburgh in Bergen exhibits a collection of works of art from this Bergen School. The villa district Park Meerwijk was built between 1915 and 1918 entirely in the style of the Amsterdam School. In the summer months there are art markets on Thursdays and Fridays around the Ruïnekerk, there are music festivals, and the Kunst10daagse attracts tens of thousands of visitors each year in October.
Near Bergen there are two polder mills, one on the Meerweg and the other on the Voert. The one on the Meerweg is the Damlandermolen from around 1700. The other mill is located in the outskirts of Bergen, in the Philistein polder near Het Woud. The windmill bears the name Philisteinse Molen and dates from 1898.
Other attractions in the municipality of Bergen include the art galleries, the architecture of the Nieuwe Bouwen, the Zeeaquarium (Bergen aan Zee) and the historical museums Het Sterkenhuis (Bergen) and the Museum van Egmond (Egmond aan Zee). On the first Wednesday of August, Bergen is home to the traditional 'Lichtjesavond' (Light Evening), in which the inhabitants decorate their gardens with lights.
I'm Jeroen, and I'll spare you the long introduction. ;) If you're looking for a landscape photo for your wall, you've come to the right place... Read more…