Venhuizen

Venhuizen (Fenhúze) is a town in the north-western Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia, in the municipality of Drechterland. Venhuizen was a separate municipality until 1 January 2006, when it was merged with the existing municipality of Drechterland. It was decided to call the new municipality Drechterland.

On a map of the Hollands Noorderkwartier from 1288 is Venhuizen mentioned as Veenhusen. The name could refer to houses at or in the fen. The Dutch Reformed church dates from the 15th century. The other large church is the Roman Catholic St. Lucaskerk (St. Lucas church), built in 1956. It's also locally called the tough (robust) church (nl: stoere).

Culture
The village fest occurs every year with Pentecost and includes a fun fair, a horse race, a volleyball tournament and several festivals. Each spring since 2017 an annual Food Festival Venhuizen has been held here. It has the largest open air restaurant in West Frisia with more than 10,000 visitors.

Notable people

 * Hendrik Offerhaus (1875–1953), rower
 * Rob Compas (born 1966), road bicycle racer
 * Rick Hooijboer (born 1974), football player
 * Mathieu Boots (born 1976), soccer player
 * Peter Koning (born 1990), racing cyclist