About the town » Egmond aan den Hoef, Gemeente Bergen, Noord-Holland, Netherlands

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Egmond aan den Hoef is a village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Bergen, and lies about 7 km west of Alkmaar. Until 2001, Egmond aan den Hoef was part of the municipality of Egmond. In 2001 Egmond aan den Hoef had 2491 inhabitants. The built-up area of the town was 0.42 km², and contained 922 residences. The wider statistical area of Egmond aan den Hoef had a population of around 3540, which had risen to 3920 by end 2008. In Egmond aan den Hoef are the remains of the Op den Hoef castle, the residence of the House of Egmond. The castle was first built in the 11th century, and was destroyed around 1205. It was rebuilt and fortified, and was destroyed again in the 14th century. Again it was rebuilt. In 1573 at the order of William the Silent it was demolished by the Geuzen, led by Diederik Sonoy. The remnants were taken down at the end of the 18th century. During the 1830s the remains were dug up. The French philosopher René Descartes, author of Meditations on First Philosophy, lived in Egmond aan den Hoef, right near the castle remains, in 1643-44 and perhaps longer. For many years he lived in the neighboring village of Egmond-Binnen.