Zaan is a small river in the province of North Holland in the northwest of the Netherlands and the name of the district through which it flows. The river was originally a side arm of the IJ and flows for 13.5 km through the municipalities of Zaanstad („Zaan town“). Wormerland north of Amsterdam, from West-Knollendam in the north to Zaandam in the south, where it flows into the IJ.
The village of Zaanstad and several towns along the Zaan are named after the river: Zaandam is called Koog aan de Zaan, Westzaan, Oostzaan, Zaandijk and the town of Zaandam. The river also flows past Zaanse Schans, a village with historic windmills and houses. It is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the Netherlands.
Zaan district
The area through which the river flows is called the Zaan district (Zaanstreek in Dutch. It includes the municipalities of Zaanstad, Oostzaan and most of Wormerland.
During the Dutch Golden Age in the 17th century, the Zaan district was dotted with windmills with various functions. It is often regarded as one of the first industrialised areas in the world. To the already considerable number of flour mills, for example, ‚wood mills‘ for cutting wood were added from 1592 onwards. From the 1600s, ‚hemp mills‘ for extracting fibres from flax and hemp. From 1601, oil mills for crushing oil seeds and ‚paint mills‘ for the production of dyes and paints. Shortly thereafter, paper mills for the production of paper. By the mid-17th century there were approximately 900 windmills along the river. Some of these still survive, especially in Zaanse Schans.
The Zaan district remains a heavily industrialised area with many factories, especially around the town of Zaandam. A number of important Dutch companies, such as Ahold and Verkade, were founded in Zaan.
The dialect spoken in the Zaan area is known as Zaans. It has some similarities with the West Frisian dialect.
The French impressionist painter Claude Monet stayed in Zaandam in the summer of 1871 and produced a series of 24 paintings of the Zaan district, writing to his friend Camille Pissarro that ‚there are enough paintings here to last a lifetime. Monet returned to the Zaan district to paint during his visits to the Netherlands in the following years.
The name of the AZ football club based in Alkmaar is short for Alkmaar Zaanstreek.
