Castricum is a municipality and a town in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. Castricum is a seaside town in the province of North Holland. It attracts tourists who come mainly to visit the beach and nearby dune landscape. Lake of Alkmaar-Uitgeest is in the vicinity, with facilities for sailing and windsurfing.

History

On 6 October 1799, a Franco-Dutch army under Guillaume Brune defeated an Anglo-Russian army under Ralph Abercromby and the Duke of York in the Battle of Castricum. The municipalities of Akersloot and Limmen merged into the municipality of Castricum on 1 January 2002.

Population centres

The municipality of Castricum is made up of the towns, villages and districts of: Castricum, Akersloot, Bakkum, De Woude and Limmen.

Transportation

The town is served by Castricum railway station. It has regular trains to Amsterdam, with a journey time of 19 minutes.

Local government

The municipal council of Castricum consists of 25 seats which, after the 2022 election, divided as follows: After 2022 the college van burgemeester en wethouders (the municipal board) was formed by Lokaal Vitaal, VVD, Green Left and CDA.

Castricum aan Zee

Castricum aan Zee is the seaside resort of Castricum. It is located on the North Sea coast at 52.5563°N, 4.6077°W. It used to be called Bakkum aan Zee, and mainly consists of holiday homes, camping sites and the occasional house. Duincamping Bakkum is the oldest camp site of the Netherlands. The dune area used to be owned by Sophie, Princess of Albania. In 1906, a group of nature lovers asked permission to camp. The princess granted permission, and it developed into a permanent camp site. In 1942, construction started of the Atlantic Wall to defend against an Allied invasion. As part of the wall Stützpunkt Castricum was built, and 104 bunkers were constructed in the dunes. Many have been demolished, but some are still hidden under the sand. In 2020, a previously unknown bunker was discovered buried in the sand.

Notable people

Sport

Gallery