Oud Haerlem Castle

Oud Haerlem Castle was a very strong castle in Holland. In 1351 it was demolished after a long siege.

The location of Oud Haerlem castle is on the eastern fringe of what is now Heemskerk, just west of Amsterdam. It is 400 meter south-southeast of Assumburg Castle, which probably also dates from the thirteenth century, but was much smaller at the time. Somewhat further north northwest of Assumburg was Poelenburg Castle, of which nothing remains. About three kilometer north northwest of Oud Haerlem is Marquette Castle, which used to be called Heemskerk Castle. Marquette Castle was a large round water castle, of which only later, more square parts remain.

The unusually high concentration of castles in the area has been related to the contemporary geography of the area. The 1708 map still shows how the IJ reached far inland in medieval times. It continued in the now disappeared Wijkermeer, and left only the dunes and a very narrow strip of land to connect the parts of Holland north and south of the IJ. It is supposed that the counts of Holland wanted to create a defensive line on this narrow strip of land, so they could stop invasions from West Friesland further to the north.

The main castle was not discovered before 2019. It consisted of a very large square castle of at least 45 by 45 meter. This probably had round towers on all corners, but this is not entirely certain for all corners. Inside the main castle were many wings or buildings. The details are not known, but it seems these were on the inside of all 4 four walls.

The size of the main castle is an aspect that makes it special. At 45 by 45 meter, the square castle is about twice the size of the square castles Ammersoyen Castle at 27 by 25 m and Muiden Castle (32*35). It is also significantly larger than Medemblik Castle (37*40) and Helmond Castle (35*35).

The construction date of the main castle has been put to the mid-thirteenth century. This date was deduced from pottery from that period, which was found during works at the place of the main castle in 2000-2001. If so, the construction date of the main castle moves back the date of the appearance of the square castle in Holland to before the reign of Floris V, Count of Holland (reign 1266-1296).

The outer bailey of Oud Haerlem Castle was an almost rectangular structure, with one tower sticking out on the southeast corner.

Text adapted from “Oud Haerlem Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Oud Haerlem Castle ranks #6,668 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #144 of the 200 mapped in Netherlands. 12 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Amsterdam, 20 km away. See how Netherlands compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗