Enkhuizen

Town in the province of North Holland, the Netherlands, 45 km/28 mi northeast of Amsterdam; population (2006 est) 17,800. Together with Hoorn, Enkhuizen was a thriving port in the 17th century. It has an open-air museum of reconstructed old buildings portraying life in former times on the Zuider Zee.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, Enkhuizen had the largest herring fleet in the Netherlands, but the population (nearly 40,000) gradually decreased. The great Dromedaris Tower 1540, a relic of the old fortifications, stands over the town's small harbour. Other buildings include the Westerkerk, which has a wooden belfry 1519, the Weeshuis (orphanage) 1616, and the town hall 1688.