Beverwijk (population: 36,995 in 2004) is a municipality and a town in the north-western Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The municipality covers an area of 20.35 km² (of which 1.81 km² water).

The municipality of Beverwijk also includes Wijk aan Zee.

Town of Beverwijk

Beverwijk received city rights in 1298.

On March 23, 1997, Beverwijk was the location of a clash of hooligans. Supporters of the Dutch soccer team AFC Ajax met with Feyenoord supporters in what has come to be known as the "Battle of Beverwijk". During this incident, the Ajax supporter Carlo Picornie was beaten to death.

Wijk aan Zee

Wijk aan Zee is a small town on the coast of the North Sea. The prestigious Corus Chess Tournament formerly called Hoogovens tournament takes place there every year.

Due to its seaside location, Wijk aan Zee has become a popular destination among tourists. Although this is reflected in the village economy (which consists to a large extent of bars and hotels), Wijk aan Zee continues to function more or less traditionally. A sense of community is maintained that is hard to find in other seaside villages, and which manifests itself through a vibrant public life and a strong organisation potential.

In 1999, Wijk aan Zee named itself "Cultural Village of Europe", recognizing the special nature of village life in general. This was three years after the Danish village of Tommerup had claimed such a title, but this time a large project was to ensue.

Wijk aan Zee came together with villages from England, Estonia, France, Greece, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Hungary in an effort to determine the role and future of villages in Europe, but also to help each other find ways to cope with difficulties that come to small communities nowadays. Each year, another one of these villages would bear the title of "Cultural Village of Europe".

During the last years, the Cultural Village project led to an increasingly refined picture of what villages have to offer and how to offer it. Simultaneously, this brought about a social critique that is relevant to urban areas as well. It has attracted the attention of the Dutch government, who asked one of the initiators of the project to write an essay about how to 'build' villages (see link below).

In 2003, Dutch journalist Jacky de Vries wrote a book about the project called Vital Villages, in which the thoughts and deeds of the 'village movement' are documented.

External links

• Official Website (http://www.beverwijk.nl)
• Map Beverwijk (http://www.plattegronden.nl/beverwijk/)
• Map Wijk aan Zee (http://www.plattegronden.nl/wijkaanzee/)

• Cultural Village Website (http://www.cultural-village.com)
• New Times for the Villages (essay by Bert Kisjes and Carin Giesen) (http://www.cultural-village.com/Publicaties/Nieuwe%20Dorpen%20EN.pdf)

Beverwijk = 10 - MapQuest map of Beverwijk (http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?city=Beverwijk&country=nl)