The Overtoom - Venhuizen
The overtoom in Venhuizen is also called 'Het Radje over the Westerbuurt'. In the Golden Age, these kinds of waterway connections were widely used to pull boats from one water, over land, to another. Most of the overshadowed have been replaced by locks, but this one has remained in Venhuizen. The overtoom was important in the Golden Age because a city had a better trading position when the land and waterways were well connected.
Managers of an overtoom regularly earned a good amount of money. Skippers paid a fixed rate for the crossing and enjoyed themselves in the café near the overtoom. Pulling a boat overland was hard work and took quite a long time. The overtoom and the café also attracted day visitors who came to watch the boats being towed across the land.
The Overtoom
De Westerbuurt 1
1606 AK
Venhuizen
Contact details
E: info@hollandbovenamsterdam.nl
W: https://www.hollandbovenamsterdam.com/de-gouden-eeuw/
