Middelburg-Vlissingen

5 October 2005

As activities during my free time this month, after finished my study, I had planned to go to places in the Netherlands that I had never visited before. The first trip was to south-west corner of the country, the Zeeland province. I went to Middelburg and Vlissingen, the big cities in the region.

Middelburg is a city with rich history. It was established in 9th century as a fortress to defend the region from the Vikings (Middelburg literally means 'middle fortress'. In the 16th century, with the establishment of the VOC (United East-India Company), Middelburg became an important trading city. The city had the warehouses and offices of the VOC.

From the train station of Middelburg, I walked directly heading the city center, and first I visited the 'Abdij', a big church with a famous tower called 'Lange Jan'. From there I walked to the other side of the center to visit the city hall. The city hall of Middelburg is considered as one of the most beautiful in the country. With detail window and roof ornaments and a tower, it is a beautiful building.

City hall, Middelburg

Walking further from the city hall I found a building called 'Kloveniersdoelen', a concert hall that in the old time also belong to the VOC, and used as military hospital during French colonial period.

Kloveniersdoelen, Middelburg

After a quick lunch in the city center, I walked around the center to visit the canals surrounding the city center. The canals also had been built in VOC era, and the warehouses were located beside the canals. Some old buildings are still exist and most buildings still have a basement storage room. Walking along the canal, I arrived back at the train station.

Vlissingen is the neighbor city of Middelburg, and can be reached only 6 minutes by train from Middelburg. The train station of Vlissingen is located quite far from the city center, and it is surrounded by waters. It became a confusion for me, so by mistake I took a ferry boat (that I thought will go to the city center). Once I sat inside the ferry, I just realized that the ferry could be going to another city! And it turned out to be true, the ferry was going to Breskens, a city located at the other side of the sea. So I spent about half an hour sitting in the ferry, going to and from Breskens. Unfortunately the weather was not so bright, so the view from the ferry was limited by the fogs.

Oranje Molen, Vlissingen

Arrived back in Vlissingen, I found out the walking route to the center. It was a nice walking route, along the coastline. There is a windmill located in the middle of the route, and the route is ended in the harbour for fishing boats, near the city center.

Harbour, Vlissingen

Since I ran out of time, I did not visit the center but walked back to the train station and went home.