Walcheren, the multifaced island. A slogan that could have been taken directly from a brochure of the local tourist office. If such brochures are to be believed the town or the region they describe is always unique someway or other. And often they are so liberal with superlatives that it will arouse suspicion.

However, in the case of Walcheren the qualification 'the multifaced island' really does hold true. Each of the islands described on this site certainly has its own attractions, but nowhere else you can find such a variety of features like here. To start with, Walcheren has a wonderful seashore with dunes, beautiful beaches and a handful of pleasant and attractive seaside resorts. The inland shows a lovely polder scenery with winding dikes that seem to be made for biking and rambling. Additionally there are the splendid medieval little towns and cities that are topped by Middelburg, the capital of the Province of Zeeland where there is always something going on. With Vlissingen Walcheren boasts the third-largest seaport of the Netherlands and let's not forget the Veerse Meer lake, which makes the island a very popular destination for yachting people, swimmers, divers and other water sports enthusiasts.

It is a more than impressive summary, that is even not complete yet. As a result of its strategic situation on the estuary of the river Scheldt it has the richest history of all islands described on this site. It is no coincidence that the administrative and governmental center of the whole province of Zeeland was established here. It will be clear beforehand that there is a lot to tell about this island.

The delta in the southwestern part of the Netherlands has always been a continuously changing area. The fact has been mentioned more than once on the pages describing the other islands of Zeeland. The sea and the rivers, and later also man, caused the map of the area to be looking completely different every time. Water became land, sometimes turned into water again to become definitively land in the end. A historical atlas of the present Province of Zeeland is like an illustrated chronicle of the continuous struggle of man against the water.

But whatever changed through the ages, one thing remained the same. That was the river Scheldt that broke through the coastal barrier to flow into the North Sea at the place that we now call Walcheren. Such a river mouth is always an attractive place for a human settlement. The sea offers the opportunity for trading with other countries, while the river can be used for transporting goods from oversees further inland. Or, the other way around, local goods from the hinterland can be brought down the stream to be shipped overseas. As a matter of fact, the one who controls the river mouth also controls the whole river, including the profitable trading. That rule also applied to Walcheren and it has caused, beside wealth and prosperity, also a lot of distress.

The Romans, who arrived here about the beginning of our age, estimated the strategic advantages of the Scheldt estuary at their true value and they founded their sole two settlements in the tough delta area right here. One of those was situated near the present town of Domburg; the other one near Colijnsplaat on what is now Noord-Beveland. We must take in mind that the islands of Walcheren and Noord-Beveland did not yet exist in their present form by then and that, in fact, we have no idea of what the map of the area looked like at that time. Probably the mouth of the river Scheldt was easier to get to that it was in later centuries.

Anyway, the presence of the Romans on Walcheren was indisputably proved when in 1647, after a heavy storm, the remains of a temple dedicated to the goddess Nehalennia showed up from below the dune sands near Domburg. Similar findings were made at the end of the 20th century near the village of Colijnsplaat where once Ganuenta, the other Roman settlement, was situated. Over 200 sculptures and altar stones showing the likeness of Nehalennia were dredged up from the waters of the Eastern Scheldt here. Such sculptures were usually dedicated to this patroness of the seamen by merchants, in gratitude for a safe passage.

From the nature of this findings it can be concluded that these settlements had achieved a level of luxury and prosperity that was unprecedented in this region. But it came to an end in the third century, when the delta area was plagued by extremely heavy floods and the by raids of German tribes from the east routed out most of the population. During this turbulent period Walcheren is assumed to have been cut off from the mainland.

During the next couple of centuries the area lied desolate and deserted. Only as from the sixth century more or less permanent inhabitation was reported again; Frisians who came down from the north and settled on the higher grounds of the coastal area. At about the same place of the former Roman settlement on the Scheldt estuary the founded a new trading place and named it Walacria ('wal acra' means 'large acre'). Probably the present name Walcheren was derived of this, although  other sources point to the Viking king Walcherius as the origin of the island's name.

In the ninth century the coastal area suffered from Viking raiders, who didn't always come with peaceful intentions. In many cases it resulted in plundering and killing. To provide some shelter against these strongholds or 'burgs' were built in several places. Place-names like Middelburg (Middle Burg), Souburg (South Burg) and Domburg (Dune Burg) still remind of these strongholds.
 

As from the 11th century the population in the area of present Walcheren increased steadily and the residential area grew inland from the coastal area into the salt marshes beyond. To protect their goods and chattels against the constant thread of floods and to further extend the inhabitable area people now started to put serious effort in building dikes. In this period the first district water boards were established to coordinate the realization and the maintenance of dikes and polders.

It was on Walcheren that the process of land reclamation was initiated and that's why we find the oldest polders here. About 1300 the island had almost reached its present shape and size, which is shown on the map alongside. While for instance islands like Noord- and Zuid-Beveland and Tholen are hardly recognizable as such, the typical diamond-shaped outline of Walcheren is already clearly visible. In the course of the next seven centuries it would barely change.

As a result of natural causes in the 12th century the Eastern Scheldt, till then the major waterway between the North Sea and the hinterland of Flanders, began to silt up. The water of the Scheldt sought an alternative way to the sea via the Western Scheldt, causing this arm of the river to replace the Eastern Scheldt as the most important one. As a result the strategic importance of Walcheren, situated right at the mouth of the Western Scheldt, increased significantly. The drawback of that was that the island became disputed territory among the counts of Flanders and Holland, who fought a long-lasting fight for the control over the region. A fight that was finally decided in favor of Holland.

After things had settled down a bit the island developed successfully. Middelburg, where Norbertine monks from Flanders founded an abbey as early as in the 12th century, was granted the rights of a town in 1217. Vlissingen followed suit in 1315 and Veere in 1355. About that same time the first docks were constructed at Vlissingen. The port would be enlarged several times during the next couple of centuries.

In the 16th century the relative peace and prosperity were harshly disrupted by floods, epidemics and war. The notorious storm surges of 1530 and 1532, which spread death and destruction all over the delta area and wiped the islands of Noord-Beveland and Sint Philipsland completely off the map, caused relatively little damage on Walcheren, thanks to the row of dunes that effectively protected the island at the seaside. Moreover the people here had the most extensive experience with the construction of dikes, probably resulting in more reliable dikes than elsewhere in the region. But an epidemic of plague at the beginning of the century struck as Walcheren hard as other parts of the region.
 

Zeeland around 1300
(published by the Zeeuwse Boekhandel at Zierikzee)

During the second half of the 16th century the religious quarrels between the followers of the Protestantism that was imported from Germany and the Catholic establishment began to escalate more and more. It resulted in a revolt of the population of the Low Countries that for the most part had been converted to Protestantism against the Catholic authority of Spain. The Spanish king Philip II sent out his most renowned general, the Duke of Alva, on a mission to put things right. Alva, nicknamed 'The Iron Duke' because of his severe actions on earlier occasions, immediately recognized the strategic importance of Walcheren. He decided to quarter a garrison on the island and to start building a citadel near Vlissingen.

But resistance was tougher than he might have expected. The rebels got support from the Geuzen (Beggars), irregular bands of pirates who, with their fleet of little boats, gave the Spaniards a hard time in the delta area abounding in water. The 'Iron Duke' could not prevent them from taking Vlissingen and chasing off the Spanish garrison in April 1572, supported by the local population. In 1584 also Middelburg fell into the hands of the rebels lead by William of Orange. The monks had to leave their abbey and from now on the complex was used to lodge the civil administration, which is still the case today.

That didn't mean that the struggle was over now. The armed revolt that later became known as the Eighty Years War would continue till 1648 and resulted in a split of the Netherlands, with the (Protestant) North being recognized as an independent republic while the (Catholic) South was to remain under Spanish rule. When in 1585 the Spaniards took the port of Antwerp the strategic position of Walcheren once again became clear; the rebels now controlled the Scheldt estuary and were able to effectively block all shipping traffic to an from Antwerp, thus denying the Spaniards the use of this port.
 

The fall of Antwerp caused large numbers of well-to-do Flemings to flee to the northern part of the Netherlands. Many of them settled in the nearby Zeeland region, giving a significant impulse to economical, social and cultural life and contributing to the development of towns like Middelburg, Vlissingen and Veere. The abundance of splendid monumental buildings in those towns remind of this hey-day, the Golden Age, which lasted until the end of the 17th century.

In the 18th century the bloom in Zeeland was past its peak. Amsterdam grew in its role as the center of world trade and drew much of economic activity from the towns in Zeeland like Middelburg, Veere and Zierikzee to the Republic's capital. And when the rise of the British Empire caused the importance and influence of the Netherlands as an economic world power to decline, Zeeland went further downhill and the towns turned into quiet places of past glory.

At the end of the 18th century the Netherlands became a kind of vassal state of France, and from 1806 on it even formed an integral part of the Napoleonic Empire. Bonaparte quickly recognized the strategic value of Walcheren and stationed a permanent French garrison on the island. At the same time he started to convert the ports of Vlissingen and Antwerp into naval bases, in preparation of his planned invasion of Britain. The British, however, did not sit and wait for things to come and launched a military operation against Vlissingen, which badly damaged the town.

In 1815 the French defeat at Waterloo made an end to the Napoleonic era. After the last French troops were gone Walcheren was left behind in poverty. As a result of its status of military area for many years, trade had come to a standstill. The island was degraded to a remote, backward area that was hard to get to. The establishment of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815 initially did not cause any improvement in the extremely bad economical situation.

In 1830 the strategic importance of Walcheren was emphasized once again when Belgium, after a short revolt, declared itself independent from the rest of the Netherlands. The Dutch promptly reacted by closing the Western Scheldt and blocking all shipping traffic to and from Antwerp, the major Belgian seaport. This situation would last until 1839, when peace was finally signed between the Netherlands and Belgium.
 

Zeeland around 1650
(source: ThinkQuest)

The economic situation on Walcheren remained weak, until the coming of the railway in 1872 made an end to the island's isolation. Middelburg as well as Vlissingen were now connected to the national railway network. One year earlier the Sloe, the water that separated Walcheren from Zuid-Beveland, had already been dammed, enabling road traffic between the two former islands. In 1873 the Canal through Walcheren was opened, as an alternative for the now-closed Sloe waterway between Western and Eastern Scheldt. This canal ran straight across the island, from Vlissingen via Middelburg to Veere. The port of Vlissingen was extended with two inland harbor docks and in 1875 the shipyard 'De Schelde' settled here, which would develop into a major constructor of naval ships and provide a lot of activity and employment.

The railway also initiated the development of tourism. The little town of Domburg grew into a fashionable seaside resort with a popularity that extended far beyond the country borders, particularly among the well-to-do. Princes, politicians, captains of industry and artists, many of those belonging to the 19th-century European 'jet set' were regular visitors here, attracted by the reputation of the healing and wholesome effect of the sea water near Domburg. Social and cultural life were at high level. Even now the place is still radiating a certain grandeur.

During Word War II Walcheren once again became victim of its strategic position on the mouth of the river Scheldt. Soon after the surrender of the Netherlands in May 1940 German military installations at Vlissingen became a more or less permanent target for Allied bombings. After the end of the war Vlissingen turned out to be the most frequently bombed city in the Netherlands.

The end of the war would bring tragedy to Walcheren. After D-Day on June 6th of 1944 the Allied forces rapidly advanced from northern France to the north, stretching the supply lines from the provisional ports at the Normandy coast to an unwanted length. To launch the final campaign against the Third Reich they were in desperate need of a well-equipped, nearby port and that of Antwerp fulfilled all conditions. Early September 1944 city and port fell into the hands of British forces almost undamaged, but the success was useless as long as the Germans were still occupying Zuid-Beveland and Walcheren and were in full control of the shipping on the Scheldt.

Those Germans had to be ousted from there before the port of Antwerp could be taken into use but the question was: how? From the side of the mainland the peninsula was virtually inaccessible via the narrow, heavily defended dams and the seaside was part of the infamous Atlantik-Wall, the massive German coastal defense line stretching from the north of Norway to the Pyrenees. The Allied Command opted for a method that the Dutch themselves had so often used as a weapon of war: the water. On the 3rd and the 29th of October 1944 the RAF bombed the sea dike near Westkapelle, resulting in a breach of 150 meter and a complete inundation of Walcheren. The population had been alerted in advance by means of pamphlets, but as a result of inaccuracy several bombs fell on town itself, killing about 200 civilians.

The inundation of Walcheren hindered the Germans in moving around and provisioning, but they kept on offering strong resistance. Only on the 1st of November troops of the 52nd Scottish Lowland Division succeeded in landing on Walcheren and beat the Germans, despite fierce opposition. So Walcheren once again paid a high price for its strategic location; the island was completely ruined and it would take until October of the next year before the dikes were repaired and the water had been pumped out, so that rebuilding the island could begin.
 

Zeeland around 1930
Source: Kleine Bosatlas
 

The flood disaster of February 1st of 1953, which caused havoc and in the delta area and killed 1,835 people left Walcheren almost unharmed. The dunes, which are considerably higher here than on any other place along the Dutch coast, provided adequate protection and the dikes held out, so that hardly any land was flooded on the island. Only 5 lives were lost on all Walcheren, a modest number compared to other islands.

The realization of the Delta works has also brought about a lot of changes on Walcheren. As a result of the damming of the Veerse Gat inlet in 1961 the island became connected with Noord-Beveland and Veere lost its importance as a fishing port; the fishing fleet of Veere moved to a new home port at Colijnsplaat on Noord-Beveland. On the positive side of the balance sheet is the Veerse Meer lake behind the Veerse Dam, which has developed into a perfect aquatics area and which has given a significant impulse to tourism on Walcheren. Additionally, the island has now got much better connections with the rest of the country via the new Delta dams.

The major part of the Sloe area, east of Vlissingen, has been reclaimed during the sixties and the seventies of the past century, and a vast port and industrial zone has developed here since then. Although a large part of it is situated on the territory of the former island of Zuid-Beveland it still belongs to the Municipality of Vlissingen on Walcheren, dissolving the once so clear border between the two islands completely. Thanks to the Sloehavens area Vlissingen now boasts the third-largest port of the Netherlands, after Rotterdam and Amsterdam.

Satellite image of Walcheren (source: NLR / ESA)
 

A day around on Walcheren
 

My first visit to Walcheren lasts only one day and I know beforehand that it will be far too little time. Although the island isn't really large there is so much to see here that even a whole week would not be enough to get more than just an overall impression of what Walcheren has to offer. But alas, that's the way it is for now and I will have to get along with it, until a possible follow-up visit.

My 'round trip of Walcheren' starts in Westkapelle, the most westerly town on the island. It is situated right on the tip that is pointing to the west like a cape. As a result it has quite some 'Lands End' atmosphere, although it isn't the most westerly place of all of the Netherlands. That credit goes to the village of Sint Anna ter Muiden in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, just across the Western Scheldt. But there you can cross the Belgian border and continue in westerly direction, to Knokke-Heist on the coast. Here in Westkapelle the land really ends and you can't go on any further to the west.

The history of Westkapelle goes back far. As early as in 1223 it was granted rights of a town by the Dutch count Floris II, together with the neighboring town of Domburg. At that time there were only four towns with such privileges in all Zeeland: Middelburg, Zierikzee, Domburg and Westkapelle, so it really was an important place. Until halfway through the 16th century Westkapelle was a prosperous fishing port, but then things began to decline. The harbor had to give way for the construction of a massive sea dike to protect the town against the sea and business moved to Vlissingen and Middelburg. As a result of the bombings of 1944 almost nothing has remained of that period of bloom. Only the tower of the old lighthouse survived.
 

From Westkapelle I drive along the road on top of the sea dike to the neighboring town of Domburg, a few kilometers to the north. With a little bit of imagination we can call this the oldest place of Walcheren, as there was already a Roman trading settlement situated here at the beginning of our era. In 1647 a heavy storm uncovered remains of a temple that was dedicated to the goddess Nehalennia from below the sand of the dunes. Supposedly that temple was swallowed by the sea around the end of the third century, when heavy floods swept the delta area. Also stone altars were found, which then were dedicated to the goddess by merchants in gratitude for a safe voyage.

The name of this settlement has, unfortunately, not been preserved. The name Domburg is of much more recent date, not earlier than the ninth century when, like on many other places along the North Sea coast, a stronghold was built to provide protection against the frequently occurring raids by Vikings. The name of this stronghold, Duinburg (Dune burg) has been corrupted to Domburg in later years. In 1223 Domburg was granted the privileges of a town by Count Floris II of Holland, emphasizing the regional importance of the place.

For many years fishing and trading were Domburg's main livelihoods, but as early as in the 17th century the town was also becoming popular as a bathing resort. By then it were mainly day trippers from Middelburg who were attracted by the sea, the beach and the dunes. In 1834, the year that the first bath pavilion was built, tourism really started to prosper.

In 1885 Dr. Johann Georg Mezger settled in Domburg, a physician who became famous being one of the first doctors to apply physiotherapy as a medical treatment. Among his clientele were a good few of people of the royal and noble blood and many of them saw the 'doctor with the golden thumbs' as his nickname was in Domburg, to combine treatment with a pleasant stay in the pure and healthy sea air. Dr. Mezger's practice attracted a stream of renowned visitors to Domburg, making it an actual meeting place for the upper ten of Europe.
 

Via Oostkapelle I drive to Vrouwenpolder on the northern point of the island. Here the Veerse Dam begins, since 1961 closing off he Veerse Gat inlet and connecting Walcheren with Noord-Beveland. A nice large beach has formed at the North Sea side in the course of the years, but from the road running along the dam it is hidden from view by an embankment overgrown with marram grass like an artificial dune, so that it just seems to be an extension of the existing coastline. You don't really get the impression of crossing over to a different island.
 

From here it is only five kilometers along the Veerse Meer lake to Veere, one of Walcheren's highlights. It is a splendid little town where a clearly visible glorious past, contemporary liveliness and the presence of the ever enthralling water go together in a very pleasant way. Of course much was lost when the Veerse Gat inlet was closed off in 1961. The nearness of the sea, the silt sea air that you could breath at the harbor, the promise of unknown destinations beyond the horizon as soon as you had left the Veerse Gat behind you, the hassle around the fishing fleet in the harbor, these are all things of the past now.
 

My tour of Veere starts at the Kaai (Quay) alongside the harbor, where the stately façades of the monumental houses are evidence of the town's wealthy past. The most noticeable ones are the two so-called 'Schotse Huizen' ('Scottish Houses'), situated side by side and built around 1540 on the authority of the Scottish merchant Joos Oliviers. At that time Veere had intensive business contacts with Scotland and even held the staple rights for all Scottish goods, particularly wool. This implied that these goods were only allowed to be imported via Veere. The houses, named 'Het Lammetje' ('The Lamb') at. nr. 26 and 'De Struis' ('The Ostrich') at nr. 27 have been used for a long time as a kind of home base for Scottish sailors and merchants during their stay  in the Netherlands. Nowadays they are housing a museum.

At the end of the Kaai, near the harbor entrance, is the Campveerse toren, built around 1500. Its name refers to the ferry service from Veere to Campen on the neighboring island of Noord-Beveland, nowadays named Kamperland. The tower was originally part of the town's defensive works, but it was also in use as the town's inn where important visitors were hosted, among which William of Orange in 1575. Presently it is one of the oldest inns still existing in the Netherlands ("Een toren met een restaurant" or "A tower with a restaurant" from the Jaap Fischer song).
 

Right behind the Kaai is the Markt (Market) with its pleasant terraces where you can have a good time, particularly on a beautiful day like today. While sipping at your drink you can enjoy the view of the splendid Stadhuis (Town Hall), one of Veere's architectural highlights. It was built between 1474 and 1477 under the direction of the Flemish master builder Evert Spoorwater. Its elegant tower in renaissance style and crowned with a sailing ship as a weather vane, dates from 1591.

From the Markt you walk along the Kerkstraat (Church Street) to a nice green courtyard with a statue of the poet Adriaen Valerius. He lived from 1575 till 1625 and worked in Veere as a notary. He wrote a number of poems about the revolt against the Spanish which, shortly after his dead, were set to music of popular melodies of that time and were collected into a songbook. This book, which is named 'De Neder-landtsche Gedenck-clanck' ('Sound of Dutch Remembrance') now forms part of the national heritage.

As elegant as the tower of the Stadhuis is, so stubby is that of the nearby Grote Kerk (Main Church). Parts of the building date from 1332 already and during the following centuries the church was enlarged several times. Its present shape and size was attained about 1521. The unwieldy aspect of the tower is a result of the fact that it was never completed. It was originally planned to rise to a height of over 100 meters, taller than the 'Lange Jan' ('Tall John') tower of Middelburg, but lack of money prevented its completion and the building came to a stop at a height of 52 meters. The tower can be climbed nowadays and the panorama of the town and part of the island of Walcheren is certainly worth the effort.  

Only the oldest part of the church, named the Kleine Kerk (Minor Church) is still in use as a place of worship. The Main Church has served several purposes in the course of time, i.e. as a warehouse, a military hospital and as a barracks. In 1975 the building has got a cultural function and nowadays exhibitions and performances take place here. Also interesting is the cistern of 1543 next to the church, a result of a promise that was made in 1502 by the Lord of Veere to the Scottish merchants in the town to provide them with their own well. The well is fed with the rain that falls on the roof of the Main Church and which is led by an ingenious system of tubes and brick filters to fill the reservoir.
 

Veere is a congenial place to be and it is with some regret that I leave the town. But there are more places on Walcheren that are worth a visit and one of those is my next destination, Middelburg. With a population of about 46,500 it is not only the largest town on the island, but it is also the capital of the whole province of Zeeland. That is clearly showing; it's a lot busier here than in Veere and it takes some time to find a place to park my car.

Also Middelburg is a town with a glorious past. Its name refers to a 'burg', a ring-walled stronghold that was built here as early as in the 9th century, as a refuge against the frequently occurring Viking raids at that time. In 1123 Norbertine monks from Flanders established a monastery inside the burg which in later years would become an abbey. In 1217 Middelburg was the first place in Zeeland to receive the privileges of a town. The Sloe waterway provided the town with an open connection to the sea and it developed into a prosperous seaport.

At the beginning of the Eighty Years War Middelburg initially chose the Spanish side but in 1574, after a long siege, the town had to surrender to the independence fighters headed by William of Orange. Shortly after the Golden Age began for Middelburg. After Amsterdam it held the second most important office of the VOC, the Dutch East-Indies Company. Ships from all parts of the world called in at its port. Many of the monuments in the town date from this period. But when the 17th century came to an end Amsterdam had surpassed Middelburg. The Sloe silted up and the port became inaccessible for large ships. It was the beginning of a period of decline that only came to an end in 1872, when the railway connection with Bergen op Zoom and the Canal through Walcheren were realized.
 

The abbey complex is the oldest part of the town, although little is left of the original 12th-century buildings. After a devastating fire in 1492 the whole complex was rebuilt and then enlarged several times, until it took up a quarter of the burg. The abbey had great influence on clerical and secular life in the town. It was one of the major large landowners and had significant interest in the water management on the islands. On his visits, the count of Holland stayed at the abbey and held meetings here with the nobility, the clergy and the representatives of the towns. The abbot was formally representing the clergy in the regional government of Zeeland.

But when Middelburg finally joined the revolt against Spain in 1574 the Norbertines were forced to leave their abbey. In the complex the regional government, the Mint of Zeeland and a cannon foundry were housed. The two abbey churches were from then on exclusively used for Protestant services. After the destruction during World War II the whole complex was once more rebuilt and put into use in 1960. Nowadays it provides accommodation to the provincial government, the Zeeland Museum and a restaurant.
 

On the Markt (Market Square) we find the splendid late-gothic Stadhuis (Town Hall), built between 1452 and 1460 under the direction of the Flemish architect Andries Keldermans. It was designed as a scaled-down copy of the Brussels Town Hall . The tower was added between 1507 and 1513 and in the 17th and 18th century the building was further enlarged and embellished. Also the Stadhuis was severely damaged during the German artillery bombardment of May 17 of 1940, but it has been beautifully restored afterwards. Since a new council offices building outside the town center has been taken into use the Stadhuis no longer serves as a Town Hall. Nowadays it houses the Roosevelt Academy, an auxiliary branch of the University of Utrecht.

In the amusement park 'Miniature Walcheren', also situated in the town center, a replica on a scale 1:20 of the complete island of Walcheren has been built in a beautiful park. Yet I find it a bit disappointing, as it isn't really an exact replica of the island. Only of the most prominent buildings in the towns and villages scale models are present. I had been looking forward to see a scale 1:20 replica of Middelburg including a scale model of 'Miniature Walcheren', which then would contain scale 1:400 replicas of Walcheren including, of course, one of 'Miniature Walcheren' etc. But alas, no chance, as it appears!
 

But I have to go on, as for today also Vlissingen is on the schedule and the afternoon has already advanced for a good deal. Happily Walcheren's second town -with a population of just over 45,000 slightly smaller than Middelburg- is situated at less than 15 minutes from here by car. That's a great advantage of Walcheren over, say, Zuid-Beveland: distances are much shorter so it doesn't take that much time to get somewhere.

Vlissingen is quite different from Middelburg. It's a real maritime place, with its docks and its boulevards. If you have been walking around here for some time you can taste the salt on your lips. The history of the town has always been closely connected to the sea. As early as in the 7th century there was a little fishing port situated here with the name Vlissingen. A name, by the way, of which the origin is unclear. There are several explanations for it going round, the one even more far-fetched than the other (see the text alongside).
 

Vlissingen is a historical town with a medieval center. Despite the fact that the town, because of its strategic situation, was a target in numerous armed confrontations through the centuries, it still boasts 300 registered monuments; by far less than Middelburg, of course, but yet enough to rank among the top-50 of Dutch monumental places.

Not everything was always rebuilt or restored. After the Second World War, during which Vlissingen was bombarded more than any other place in the Netherlands, particularly at the west side old residential areas that had been heavily damaged were torn down and replaced by new developments. Nowadays we find here the spacious boulevards along the sea, where the modern hotels and apartment buildings are lining up and even lend the town a fashionable touch.
 

Strolling along the boulevards I enjoy the magnificent panorama of the sea, with the cargo ships and the yachts hugging the coast. There is a tugboat lying in the roads that, for some reason that is unclear to me, is constantly spouting up a thick jet of water. A spectacular sight, especially when the sun is playing with the atomized water curtain and creates an abundance of colors in it.
 

In the meantime the day is running to its end and that also end my one-day tour of Walcheren. I leave the town at the west side and drive via the popular seaside resort of Zoutelande back in the direction of Westkapelle, where I started my tour this morning.

About an hour later I am enjoying a beautiful sunset and Dover sole with French fries on the terrace of the beach pavilion 'Scheldezicht' ('Scheldt View'), just outside Westkapelle. The beach here looks very different from that of, say, the Wadden islands. It is less wide but the dunes are much higher here, rising to well over 50 meters. But the row of dunes is quite narrow and to prevent that it is affected by the sea breakwaters have been built square to the coastline, consisting of double rows of wooden poles. Then there are the sea-going vessels sailing by, hugging the coastline so closely that you can see the crew members walking on deck. And you can see Belgium here, the apartment buildings on the sea boulevard of Knokke, glittering in the final rays of the sun going down. If it is a very clear day like today you can even see the cranes in the port of Zeebrugge, some kilometers further onwards.

It is a special island , Walcheren, it surely is. Pity that it isn't a real island anymore. But here on the beach the 'island feeling' is definitely still alive. I will certainly come back here!
 

More about Walcheren and related information

www.zeeland.nl
Official website of the Province of Zeeland, to which Zuid-Beveland belongs. Dutch language, with some content in English, French and German.

www.vvvzeeland.nl
Website of the Regional VVV (Tourist Office) Zeeland. English, German and French language versions available.

www.middelburg.nl
Website of the Municipality of Middelburg. Dutch language, with some content in English.

www.touristshop.nl
Website of the Tourist Shop Middelburg with local tourist information. Dutch, English and German language versions available.

www.vlissingen.nl
Website of the Municipality of Vlissingen. Dutch language, with English and German language sections.

www.visitvlissingen.nl
Promotional website of Vlissingen by the Vlissingen Promotion Foundation met tourist information. Dutch language only.

www.muzeeum.nl
Website of the Maritime MuZEEum of Zeeland. Dutch language only.

www.veere.nl
Website of the Municipality of Veere. Dutch language, with English and German language sections.

www.veere-stad.nl
Promotional website of Veere by the Veere Promotion Foundation met tourist and historical information. Dutch language only.

www.schotsehuizen.nl
Website of the Museum 'De Schotse Huizen' in Veere. Dutch only.
 

June 2005