ENKHUIZEN, a seaport town of the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland, situated on theZuyder Zee, 28 miles N.N.E. of Amsterdam. Its principal buildings are the town-house, the Wester-Kerk, the orphanage, the church of the Old Catholics. The town-house, erected in 1588, is adorned with allegorical paintings by Gerard de Lairesse, Houbraken, and Van Neck; one of its chambers is hung with fine tapestry of Louis XIV.’s time, and the burgomaster’s room contains a chef d ’ oβuvre by Ferdinand Bol. The industrial establishments comprise a foundry, several sugar refineries, and one of the largest factories in Europe for the manufacture of buoys; and there is a trade in wood, butter, and cheese. At the beginning of the 17th century the town numbered 40,000 inhabitants, and sent 400 vessels to the herring fishery; but the harbour is now rendered nearly useless by accumulations of sand, the fishing smacks do not number more than a dozen; and the population in 1869 was only 4925.

The nucleus of Enkhuizen was formed by a few houses (Enkele huizen) built about 1000 A.D., and it was still an open village in 1279. In spite of numerous military vicissitudes, and a great flood which happened in 1514, it rapidly advanced, and under Spanish rule became a strongly fortified and beautifully built town. It was, however, the first of the cities of Holland to open its gates to λVilliam the Silent, in 1572. During the 17th century it began to decay, and in the 18th it sank to its present position.