In 1932 the Afsluitdijk, 30 km long and straight as an arrow, was completed and the Zuiderzee was no longer connected to the North Sea. The town that had been a prosperous fishing village for so many centuries now relies on tourists.

The Netherlands has a long history and much of it, as so much of Europe, is centered around religion and the battles between the different beliefs. The towns of Volendam and Marken are only a short distance apart, but Volendam is a Roman Catholic town while Marken is Protestant.