- Monster, Netherlands
Dutch town locator maps
mun_
town_
caption = The village (dark green) and the statistical district (light green) of Monster in the municipality of Westland.Monster is a town in the Dutch province of
South Holland . It is a part of the municipality of Westland, and lies about 10 km south-west ofThe Hague .The village of "Monster" has a population of around 11,580.Statistics Netherlands (CBS), [http://statline.cbs.nl/ "Statline: Kerncijfers wijken en buurten 2003-2005"] . As of
January 1 ,2005 .] The statistical area "Monster", which also can include the surrounding countryside, has a population of around 14,540.Statistics Netherlands (CBS), [http://statline.cbs.nl/ "Statline: Kerncijfers wijken en buurten 2003-2005"] . As ofJanuary 1 ,2005 .]Until 2004 it was a separate municipality and covered an area of 20.15 km² (of which 5.70km² is water).
The former municipality of Monster also included the towns,
Poeldijk andTer Heijde . Monster and Ter Heijde are towns on theNorth Sea coast and have a popularbeach .History
In the
13th century a great deal of the Westland,Loosduinen andThe Hague were administered by Monster. When The Hague came to be constructed, a split was made in Haag-ambacht and Half-Loosduinen. The latter village was separated from Monster in1812 . Remains of the former glory can still be seen between The Hague and Monster at such estates as "Ockenburgh, Bloemendaal, Solleveld" and "Langeveld".There is a great deal of uncertainty over the origin of the name "Monster". It is probably derived from the
Latin "monasterium", meaningmonastery . The name was also used for the ground that belonged to a monastery. Another explanation was that Monster was derived from the old-Dutch word "monster", which meant amongst others "big church" (from Latin: "monstrum"), which is supported by the fact that Monster had those days one of the largest churches in the area.Monster was previously a destination for
pilgrimage , because Machutusparish possessed somerelic s of itspatron Machutus , who is also known asMachuut . People came to be healed of the "falling sickness", which was possiblyepilepsy .Image gallery
References
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