Holiday apartment in Oostzaan: Discover nature, water and history

Oostzaan between nature, water and history

Oostzaan offers unusual contrasts within a compact area: the protected Oostzanerveld, a wide range of activities in Het Twiske and historical traces in the village.

Experience Oostzanerveld and Het Twiske

Directly next to Oostzaan lies Oostzanerveld, a peat meadow area with narrow ditches, reed beds and hundreds of small islands. As part of the Natura 2000 area “Ilperveld, Varkensland, Oostzanerveld en ’t Twiske”, it has protected status. Along the paths in Het Twiske, you may be able to spot Scottish Highland cattle as well as meadow, water and reed birds.

Het Twiske offers opportunities for swimming, diving, surfing and sailing. You can also cycle, hike, go boating, ride horses and skate there; the area reveals itself in a varied landscape. Het Twiske also has a ferry, rope and raft bridges, a climbing tower, a zip line, a tube fort and a pirate ship.

Routes for water, cycling and walks

The Twiske Vaarroute is approximately 16 kilometres long and leads through Oostzanerveld and Het Twiske. A canoe route also runs through both areas, allowing you to explore Oostzanerveld by canoe. For mountain biking, Het Smaal is available, an approximately 3.5-kilometre route through the wooded area of Het Twiske. The 10-kilometre walking route “Recreatief en historisch Oostzaan” connects the Het Twiske recreation area with historic places in Oostzaan. The Westerstijfselmakerspad can only be reached on foot.

Historical details in the village

The Grote Kerk of Oostzaan (Hervormde Kerk) has a wooden tower above a façade decorated with Rocaille scroll volutes. On the square in front of the Grote Kerk, a monument commemorates the painter Jacob Cornelisz. van Oostsanen, who came from Oostzaan. Claes Compaen (1587–1660), who was born in Oostzaan and was a notorious pirate, lies beneath one of the stones in the Grote Kerk. The resistance monument, a bronze chair on a concrete base, stands on Kerkplein. The Hannie Schaft monument was erected because her father, Pieter Schaft, came from Oostzaan.

The Weeshuis also tells a complex story: it was built in 1695 as a country house for a very wealthy lady, not as an orphanage, and was not used as an orphanage until 1774. Before that, orphans were taken in at a house on Kerkstraat. At the time, the street was called Weerpad. The northern extension was built in 1713; its original purpose is unknown. Above its door are figures of an orphan boy and an orphan girl, with the coat of arms of Oostzaan between them.

Local history also includes the two-manual cabinet organ of the Nederlands Gereformeerde Kerk in Oostzaan, with an attached pedal and 13 stops. H.H. Hess built it in 1785, and in 1981 it was restored by Flentrop BV of Zaandam. The Westerstijfselmakerspad refers to the former production of wheat starch in starch houses or sheds along clear, flowing water around 1630. In 1895, Albert Heijn began roasting his own coffee in the washroom of his grocery shop in Oostzaan.

For the main travel overview: Oostzaan.