Zandvoort was bought 300 years ago by Paulus Loot, a very wealthy merchant from Amsterdam who was very decisive for the development of the village. The original proof of purchase and accompanying receipt were found in the North Holland Archives thanks to research by a special working group. Since this week they can be admired in the Zandvoorts museum.
Mayor David Moolenburgh was allowed to reveal the 300-year-old documents. “I was allowed to look into it before in the North Holland Archives and it is a beautiful document if you realize the history behind it.”
Paulus Loot had an estate in Haarlem and a special interest in Zandvoort. It is unknown whether he also lived there, but presumably he liked coming there. “He had something with the sea and with Zandvoort,” says Klaartje Pompe, deputy director of the North Holland Archives. “Maybe he was the first to feel, like countless people now, how beautiful it is by the sea.”
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Paulus Loot was able to buy Zandvoort for next to nothing 300 years ago – NH News
Paulus Loot is also buried in Zandvoort and the boulevard on the south side of the village, which was recently renewed, is named after him. Next year it will be 350 years ago that Paulus Loot was born and Zandvoort will reflect on this in various ways. For example, there is currently an outdoor exhibition about him on Gasthuisplein and there will be a drawing competition for children. “We don’t actually know what he looked like. That way we want people to use their creativity and start drawing him,” says Moolenburgh.
The 300-year-old purchase documents are temporarily on display in the Zandvoorts museum.