Zaandam

About

With its pretty painted wooden houses, colourful windmills, and charming waterfront, it might not surprise you that in 1697 Tsar Peter the Great stayed in Zaandam on his visit to the Netherlands. What might surprise you is just where he stayed - a small wooden hovel. Not a random choice - it belonged to a blacksmith (Gerrit Kist) formerly employed by him in Moscow. The Tsar was on a fact-finding mission to modernise his country and so went incognito as “Peter Michaeloff”, a ruse that only worked so long. The hovel is the oldest surviving wooden house in the Netherlands, albeit these days it’s protected under a brick exterior. The Zaanse Schans area is unique in Holland with its rows of authentic, colourful wooden houses, windmills, bakeries, and even a functioning clog workshop.