IJ dikes

The old IJ meandered through North Holland from the Zuiderzee near Amsterdam to beyond Beverwijk. This water is also known as the Oer-IJ. To protect the hinterland, dikes naturally ran: the Noorder IJ and Zeedijken. They are still there: from Schellingwoude through Amsterdam-Noord via Zaandam to Beverwijk. Like a long ribbon through the landscape. Just a few meters higher and therefore always good for extra views.

For a long time, the IJ was in open connection with the Zuiderzee with all its dangers. During storms the water level could fly up meters within hours. Precisely on Christmas Day 1717, the section near Assendelft (the Assendelverzeedijk) broke and basements flooded even in Alkmaar.

The situation changed when the North Sea Canal was built in 1876. And parts of the IJ were reclaimed. Then the old IJ dikes were no longer sea dikes. But you can still follow the dikes as long winding ribbons along old dike houses and through the open polder landscape. With remnants of old dike breaches everywhere. North Holland above the North Sea Canal has no less than 1,500 km of dike, equal to the distance Alkmaar-Madrid.

Read the new issue of the Friends of the Hondsbossche: Het IJ Rond; history of the old sea dikes around the IJ until the opening of the North Sea Canal in 1876 by Diederik Aten and Paul Schevenhoven. 

Listen to the podcast Along the Banks of the Oer-IJ.

Or experience the dikes on a bicycle.