Zwaag

Zwaag (West Frisian: "Sweach") is a town on the north side of the Dutch Town of Hoorn in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia, The Netherlands. It was, until 1980, a little farming road-village. It became part of Hoorn in 1979 in order for Hoorn to expand and take up the surplus population of Amsterdam. On January 1, 2007, Zwaag had 3214 inhabitants.

Zwaag was founded in the 13th century. The church tower is dated to around 1500. Originally, the population consisted of sailors and artisans. Zwaag was a town then, but it lost its city rights after prolonged disputes with nearby Hoorn. As of the 15th century, Zwaag was village of berry growers and diary farmers. From 1900 onwards, more and more greenhouse were build for growing flowers. At this time only a few of the farmers remain. Most of the land that belonged to Zwaag is now urbanized and on places where no houses are built, industrial zones have sprung up. The Dorpsstraat is the main road in Zwaag.

The annual Carnival festival in Zwaag is one of the biggest in the northern parts of The Netherlands.

Notable people from Zwaag include Ed Beers, Hans van Goor, Marike Groot and Richard Tol.

External links

* [http://www.kuijsten.de/atlas/nh/zwaag.html Map of the former municipality in 1868]