Editing Heiloo (section)

==Notable attractions==
It has a town hall dating from 1926 and a church from the 12th century known as the ''Witte Kerk''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wittekerkheiloo.nl/geschiedenis.php |title=Geschiedenis |access-date=2012-07-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120107201417/http://www.wittekerkheiloo.nl/geschiedenis.php |archive-date=7 January 2012}}</ref> In the late Middle Ages a Marian shrine came into being for Our Lady to Need (''Onze Lieve Vrouwe ter Nood''). The chapel was partially destroyed in 1573 during the [[Siege of Alkmaar|Spanish Siege of Alkmaar]], and it was completely demolished in 1637.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Thiers|first=Ottie|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/66467176|title='t Putje van Heiloo : bedevaarten naar O.L. Vrouw ter Nood|date=2005|publisher=Verloren|isbn=90-6550-858-9|location=Hilversum|pages=20–23|oclc=66467176}}</ref> Before it was razed to the ground, the Alkmaar painter [https://rkd.nl/nl/explore/images/1812 Gerrit Pietersz. de Jongh] depicted a family on a pilgrimage at the ruins of the single wall left remaining after the siege.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Adlib Internet Server 6 {{!}} Details|url=https://adlib.catharijneconvent.nl/Details/collect/41722|access-date=2022-01-19|website=adlib.catharijneconvent.nl}}</ref> Pilgrimage started to flourish again in 1713 when a spring started to sprout where the chapel had stood.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Thiers|first=Ottie|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/66467176|title='t Putje van Heiloo : bedevaarten naar O.L. Vrouw ter Nood|date=2005|publisher=Verloren|isbn=90-6550-858-9|location=Hilversum|pages=31|oclc=66467176}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Adlib Internet Server 6 {{!}} Details|url=https://adlib.catharijneconvent.nl/Details/collect/51675|access-date=2022-01-19|website=adlib.catharijneconvent.nl}}</ref> The Marian sanctuary, situated outside the village in a so-called procession park, is one of the major pilgrimage destinations in the Netherlands, attracting pilgrims mainly from the diocese of Haarlem-Amsterdam.
In the 1950s and 1960s the population grew quickly as many residents of Amsterdam moved to the area. Many residents work and attend school in the neighbouring city of [[Alkmaar]].