Slot Heemstede

Heemstede Castle (Dutch: Slot Heemstede) is the site of the old castle of Heemstede. The property is situated at the site of the former castle 'Heerlijkheid Heemstede', or 'Huis te Heemstede', at a strategic position on mouth of the Spaarne river on the Haarlem lake (since 1853 pumped dry and called the Haarlemmermeer polder).

The castle was first built in 1280, by Dirk van Hoylede from the region of Vlaardingen. Built, burned and rebuilt over the centuries, it was last torn down in 1810, after years of neglect. The monumental gatekeeper's house 'Nederhuys', built in 1630, remains intact as well as the foundations from the Middle Ages.

The most famous owner of the castle was Adriaan Pauw, who bought it in 1620. He played a role in the Treaty of Münster, and built the bridge Pons Pacis to commemorate the peace treaty.

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

Slot Heemstede ranks #6,563 of 8,134 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #110 of the 201 mapped in Netherlands. Founded 1280, it is older than 67% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 861 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. 17 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Amsterdam, 17 km away. See how Netherlands compares in the castle statistics.

View on the interactive castle map →

Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗