2019 European Road Championships

Alkmaar (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɑl(ə)kmaːr] ) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland. Alkmaar is well known for its traditional cheese market. For tourists, it is a popular cultural destination. The municipality has a population of 111,766 as of 2023.

The Waag building is a National monument (Rijksmonument) listed building on the Waagplein in Alkmaar in the Netherlands. On this square Waagplein every Friday from April till the second week of September, the famous cheese market is held. The Dutch Cheese Museum and the tourist information Office (VVV) are also in the building. In the tower is a famous carillon weekly played by a carillonneur and also automatically by a drum chiming the quarters of the hour. There is also the famous automatic horse with knights play in the tower with an automatic trumpetplayer.

Rôtisserie Rue du Bois is a defunct restaurant in Alkmaar, Netherlands. It was a fine dining restaurant that was awarded one Michelin star in 1979. The restaurant lost its star the next year, after the departure of the head chef.Head chef in the time of the Michelin star was Dick Wijker. Owner and Maître d'hôtel was Nico Blokker. The restaurant had a classic style and food was prepared at the table, like filleting of fish or jointing game.

The siege of Alkmaar (1573) was a turning point in the Eighty Years' War. The burghers of the Dutch city of Alkmaar held off the Spanish (who had set up their camp in Oudorp) between 21 August and 8 October 1573, with boiling tar and burning branches from their renewed city walls. On 23 September William the Silent followed up on a request by Cabeliau dating from the beginning of the siege and ordered the dikes surrounding Alkmaar to be breached, thereby flooding the polders in which the Spanish troops were camped, like the Achtermeer polder. This forced the Spanish commander, Don Fadrique, the son of the hated Alva himself, to retreat and the last Spanish soldiers left on 8 October 1573.The end of the siege is considered a turning point in the Eighty Years' War as Alkmaar was the first city to overcome a siege by the Spanish army. The garrison included a detachment of Scots soldiers who had previously tried to defend Haarlem.A first-hand account of the siege exists in the diary of Nanning van Foreest, a local city councillor. Several archaeological examinations have uncovered remains of the battle.

The Battle of Alkmaar (also sometimes called the Second Battle of Bergen or the Battle of Egmond-aan-Zee) was fought on 2 October 1799 between forces of the French Republic and her ally, the Batavian Republic under the command of general Guillaume Marie Anne Brune, and an expeditionary force from Great Britain and her ally Russia, commanded by Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany in the vicinity of Alkmaar during the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland. The battle ended in a Anglo-Russians victory, forcing Brune to order a strategic withdrawal the next day to a line between Monnickendam in the East and Castricum in the West. There the final battle of the campaign would take place on 6 October.

Grote or Sint-Laurenskerk (English: Great, or St. Lawrence church) is a landmark formerly Protestant church in Alkmaar, Netherlands, now in secular use. The building is located on the Koorstraat (choir street). It is mostly closed in the winter and open for tourists in the summer months or by appointment.

Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar is a city museum located in the center of Alkmaar on the Canadaplein (Canada Square). The museum is devoted to presenting and preserving the cultural history of Alkmaar and the surrounding region.

The Achtermeer polder, south of Alkmaar in the Dutch province of North Holland, is the first known polder in the Netherlands.

Alkmaar railway station serves the town of Alkmaar, Netherlands. It is located approximately 40 km (25 mi) northwest of Amsterdam. The station opened on 20 December 1865 and is located on the Den Helder–Amsterdam railway. The train services are operated by Nederlandse Spoorwegen and it is an Intercity station, where all trains stop.

Alkmaar Noord railway station is a suburban railway station in the town of Alkmaar, Netherlands. The station opened on 26 September 1980 and is located on the Den Helder–Amsterdam railway. The train services are operated by Nederlandse Spoorwegen.

Alkmaarderhout, locally known as "De Hout" (Dutch for "the wood(s)"), in a city park in Alkmaar, North Holland, Netherlands. The park is one of the oldest city parks in the Netherlands, dating from 1607.

AZ or AZ Vrouwen is a women's association football club based in Alkmaar and the Zaanstreek, Netherlands. They are affiliated with the AZ men's team. They were founder members of the Eredivisie Vrouwen in 2007 and won the first three editions of the championship. In February 2011 AZ announced they were withdrawing support for their women's section, for financial reasons.Telstar entered a team in the 2011–12 women's Eredivisie and most of the AZ players signed for the newly formed club.In Januari 2022 AZ announced they were looking into restarting with a women's section. Two months later AZ revealed they were going to financially support and were working closely with VV Alkmaar. After AZ and VV Alkmaar already intensified their collaboration in 2022, AZ now takes the place of VV Alkmaar in the Azerion Women's Eredivisie starting from the 2023-2024 season.On 23 March 2023 Mark De Vries was confirmed as manager.