Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Haarlem. The winter was cold, food ran low, and the city was
bombarded by Spanish cannons. Inside huddled 4,000 cold, hun-
gry Calvinists. At one point, the city's women even joined the men
on the barricades, brandishing kitchen knives.
But Spain had blockaded the Haarlem Lake (the Haarlem-
mermeer), and on June 12, 1573, Haarlem had to surrender. The
Spanish rounded up 1,500 ringleaders and executed them to send
a message to the rest of the country. Still, Haarlem's brave seven-
month stand against overwhelming odds became a kind of Dutch
Alamo, inspiring their countrymen to fight on.
Following Haarlem's brave lead, other Dutch towns rebelled,
including Amsterdam (see page 442). Though Holland and Spain
would skirmish for another five decades, the battles soon moved
southward, and Spanish troops would never again seriously pen-
etrate the country's borders.
• Finish in the chapel now housing the café...
Brewers' Chapel (Brouwerskapel):
Giant and Dwarf Marks
The long and short of the city's 750-year history are found on the
chapel's central pillar. Black lines on the column mark the height
of Haarlem's shortest citizen, thigh-high (33 inches) Simon Paap,
who supposedly died in a dwarf-tossing incident, and—wow!—
8-foot-8-inch-tall Daniel Cajanus. Who said, “When you've seen
one Gothic church, you've seen 'em all”?
