Built in 1613, the State Lodgings housed guests for the sittings of the College of the Commissioned Council of the Northern Quarter and West-Frisia, the members of which are represented on the double-faced front of the building, them being Medemblik, Edam, Alkmaar, Hoorn, Enkhuizen, Monnickendam and Purmerend. It served this function until the fall of the establishment of the Batavian Republic in 1796. From then until 1977, the building served as town hall of Hoorn. Nowadays, the building is a wedding venue and is used by the municipality for official receptions.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
Weighing House
The Weighing House was built in 1609, and features a façade statue of a vermilion unicorn with the crest of the city. The building is the centrepiece of the cheese market that has been held here since the second half of the 17th century. Hoorn at that point was decreasing as a harbour city of note, but instead rose to a more prominent role as a trade city. At its peak, the Hoorn cheese market saw some 3000000 kg of cheese being traded per year. The market, however, eventually was discontinued in the 20th century. The weighing house has since seen usage as a venue for a drawing school, but has for some time now been in use as a grand café.
West-Frisian Museum
Eastern Church
A Gothic church dating back to the mid-15th century, though the modern building dates back to 1616. The church was built as a Roman Catholic church, but became a Dutch Reformed church after the reformation. The church became disused in the 1960s, was threatened with demolition, but eventually found new usage as a multifunctional venue. Church services are still held in the building, though only on Sundays.
Museum van de Twintigste Eeuw
The last surviving remnants of Hoorn's former city defences. The tower's name translates into English as "Main Tower", though only the last part is correct. The "Hoofd" instead comes from the nearby jetty named "Houten Hoofd". Its name therefore is better translated as "Tower (at the Land's) Head". The Hoofdtoren was completed in 1532 and lost its defensive use in 1614, after which the Noordsche Compagnie (Northern Company), an early trading company of the Netherlands, which made its profits from whaling around Greenland and Jan Mayen, operated out of the building. After the Northern Company, the clothmakers' guild was based in the tower. The tower has been recognised as a monument for almost 60 years, and now houses a restaurant.