Every design for Enkhuizen

Enkhuizen is the Herring Town, once home to the largest herring fleet in the country and one of the VOC ports from which ships sailed for the East Indies. In the mid-seventeenth century it ranked among the most important harbour cities in the Netherlands, until its harbours silted up and Amsterdam took its place.

The town sits in the eastern part of the North Holland peninsula, on the northern shore of the Markermeer and close to the IJsselmeer, in the old region of West Friesland. Around it lie low polders reclaimed from the sea, most of them at or below sea level and protected by dykes. Canals and harbours cut through the town itself, and the old fortifications of the Vest still trace its edge. Today the well-preserved historic centre, the marinas and the Zuiderzeemuseum - buiten draw visitors, while seed companies and growers work the fertile land outside.

The Drommedaris belongs to that harbour past, as does the Koepoort on the landward side. Put Enkhuizen on your chest and you carry a whole seafaring town with it.