Stavoren: Coastal city on the Zuiderzee

Until it was closed off by the famous Afsluitdijk in 1932, the Zuiderzee was a sizeable inland sea with an open connection to the North Sea via the passages between the Frisian Islands of Texel, Vlieland and Terschelling. Stavoren is located on a protrusion of land in this former sea. Little remains of the legendary architecture of medieval Hanseatic Stavoren, although evidence of the 17th century town has been uncovered during recent archaeological digs.

The successful trade with the Dutch East Indies made Holland a world power in the 17th century. The engines of this trade – the large East Indiamen vessels – had their home ports on the Zuiderzee west coast in cities such as Amsterdam and Enkhuizen. This remarkable period of prosperity is known as the Dutch Golden Age. As well as fighting a war of independence against the Spanish king during this time, Holland was also home to world-famous painters such as Rembrandt and Vermeer. Amsterdam became a major city, its canals lined with magnificent houses for Holland’s powerful merchants. 

These sensational developments further south marked the downfall of Stavoren, which had gained city status as early as 1118. As ships became larger they could not dock in Stavoren’s shallow harbour and the city was too far from the trade centre of Amsterdam. The local economy collapsed even further in the 19th century and Stavoren slowly became a ghost town by the Zuiderzee. All that remained was a collection of small houses on the city canal.