The Treasure of Ter Coulster
Our search for the treasure of Ter Coulster begins at the following coordinates in the park.
N 52° 36.101'
E 004° 42.801'
(The car can be parked in one of the parking lots at the beginning of Frederica's hof.)
To find the treasure 8 questions must be answered.
The questions can be found within the green frames. The answers will be labeled A through H.
(Read carefully the information boards that are placed on the estate in various places. You'll need them!)
De man van Vught
You are now in front of the war memorial "De man van Vught".
The statue shows a skinny man sitting on a piece of wall.
His hands tied on his back. He is a symbol of the prisoners of camp Vught.
The design of the sculpture was made by sculptor Willem Reijers.
May 4 1973 the statue has been revealed and every year people pay tribute by laying a flower wreath during the commemoration.
The man has a pleated towel over his right shoulder.
How many pleats has this piece of clothing? Answer D = ?
Do you see the pond? There's a bridge over this pond. Count the number of vertical uprights of the bridge.
Stack count to 1 digit. Answer B = ?
Click on this link and solve the puzzle. You now have the coordinates of waypoint 1. Please walk there.
Entrance to Ter Coulster
This is the gateway of the driveway to the former castle.
The entrance fence is hung on 2 hinges decorated with lions.
The lions are about 400 years old and bear the coat of arms of the owners of the castle.
How many fish do you count here? Answer A = ?
Click on this link and solve the puzzle. You now have the coordinates of waypoint 2. Please walk there.
Castle Ter Coulster
You are now standing in the place where the castle Ter Coulster was. The current farmhouse "Ter Coulster Hof" was built on the foundation of the castle. The old cellars of the castle were formerly used for water storage. On the left you still can see a part of the castle moat.
In the 12th century Ter Coulster is named a residence of the house of Heylighelo. In 1390 Willem van de Coulster appeared in the archives as owner of a "huis met gracht en wallen". The castle has been destroyed several times:
- in 1517 by the "Gelderse Friezen" and their leader Zwarte Pier.
- In 1573 by the army of Spain during the siege of Alkmaar.
"Koulster van vooren en op de regter zijde 1724"
is written in ink on top of this image.
Find out the year of this map of Heiloo.
Stack count to 1 digit. Answer E = ?
The wooden mansion
In 1810, Gijsbert Fontein Verschuir, mayor of Alkmaar and owner of Ter Coulster build a country house on the remains of the old castle. The beautiful house was built of wood from the own forest of Ter Coulster.
The wood used was not of the best quality and deteriorated quickly. The house became rickety and dangerous, the wind blew through the many gaps and holes Soon the house had to be broken down by the heirs of Gijs.
What is the year in which the family had to break down the country house?
Stack count to 1 digit. Answer F = ?
In various places on the estate you will find information boards with maps.
Find the position of the teahouse and walk there.
The tea dome
In 1891 the Van der Feen de Lille-Fontein Verschuir family build the tea dome. The family lived in de Langestraat in Alkmaar, in the beautiful “Huize De Dieu”. They loved their outdoor home in Heiloo.
From this place and in the 19th century you could see Alkmaar over the meadows. The family was able to wave to their neighbors at Nijenburg, this was still possible until the 20th century.
You can walk across the little white bridge to a wonderful seat under a linden-tree. This linden tree was planted after the "oude linde" fell down a number of years ago.
The linden-tree was planted in commemoration of the birth of a princess?
What is the year of birth? Stack count to 1 digit. Answer G = ?
Click on this link and solve the puzzle. You now have the coordinates of waypoint 3. Please walk there
Oh, how many sides does the tea dome have? Answer H = ?
The Icehouse
This is the site of the former icehouse of the estate.
In the winter months, ice was chopped from the ponds and stored in this cellar.
In the summer ice cubes were carved and used for the fridge in the country house.
The guests were treated to an ice-cold glass of wine in the warm summer months.
The ice that was stored in the cellar remained good for a year.
How many entrances to the iceberg can be found here? Answer C = ?
Have you found the answers to the 8 questions, then you're ready to look for the treasure.
When the Spanish army besieged the city of Alkmaar during the Eighty Years' War in 1573, the citizens of Alkmaar received an order by Willem of Oranje to open the floodgates of the dykes and flood the region.
The enemy got their wet feet and had to give up the siege of Alkmaar. During the retreat they plundered as much as possible. Also Ter Coulster suffered and was destroyed.
The Spaniards could not carry the robbed gold and silver. It was too heavy. The horses and wagons sunk too deep into the mud and had to be left behind. A Spanish musketeer wrote down the location where the treasure of Ter Coulster disappeared under water.
Years later, during my holiday in Spain, I found the lost written note of this soldier.
However, I did not find the treasure. Unfortunately, unfortunately.
I have now encrypted the coordinates and I give them to you. Perhaps you'll have more success.
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The treasure of Ter Coulster can be found: Tip: Behind the tree at the T-junction. |
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Did you find the treasure (or unfortunately not) ....
The real treasure is of course the beautiful nature
in and on estate "Ter Coulster".
Take your time and walk on the way back through "het overbos" (6), Enjoy the view on "de vaart naar Het Die" (11) and look over the meadows to the "oude melkfabriek" (13).
- Click on this link for beautiful photos (thanks to Kitty Hoogland) of the nature at Ter Coulster.
- Via this url more information about the estate.
- Oud Heiloo has a webpage written about the history of Ter Coulster.
- Farm "Ter Coulster Hof" can be found here on facebook.
SuperUberCoolJob wishes you and your family a safe trip home and lots of luck with the search for other caches.
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