From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Naarden is a municipality and a town in the Gooi region in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. Naarden is an example of a star fort, complete with fortified walls and a moat. The walls and the moat have been restored and are in a very good state.
Naarden was granted its city rights in 1300 (the only town in Het Gooi to have been done so) and later developed into a fortressed garrison town with a textile industry. Naarden is the home of the Netherlands Fortress Museum (Nederlands Vestingmuseum). Every year Naarden hosts the national photograph festival and, on Good Friday, a performance of Bach's St. Matthew Passion in the local church, which is called the Great Church or St. Vitus Church. Despite its earlier importance, Naarden was surpassed by Hilversum in the 18th century and today is much smaller than its neighbour Bussum. Today Naarden is actually an exclave of Bussum, albeit one with an interesting history and townscape.
[edit] Local government
The municipal council of Naarden consists of 17 seats, which are divided as follows:
[edit] Notable people born in Naarden
The Swiss composer Frank Martin lived in Naarden for the last twenty years of his life. The sepulchre of Jan Ámos Komenský is also located in Naarden.
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