Sluis (; ; ) is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

located in the west of Zeelandic Flanders, in the south-western Dutch province of

Zeeland Zeeland (; ), historically known in English by the Endonym and exonym, exonym Zealand, is the westernmost and least populous province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the southwest of the country, borders North Brabant to the east ...

. The current incarnation of the municipality has existed since 1 January 2003. The former municipalities of Oostburg and Sluis-Aardenburg merged on that date. The latter of these two municipalities was formed from a merger between the previous municipality named Sluis and the former municipality of Aardenburg in 1995.

History

The town received city rights in 1290. In 1340 the Battle of Sluys was fought nearby at sea during the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy ...

. There is a record of one of the first lotteries with money on 9 May 1455 of 1737 florins (US$170,000, in 2014). During the

Eighty Years' War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt (; 1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish Empire, Spanish government. The Origins of the Eighty Years' War, causes of the w ...

in 1587 the town was captured by Spanish troops under the

Duke of Parma The Duke of Parma and Piacenza () was the ruler of the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza, a List of historic states of Italy, historical state of Northern Italy. It was created by Pope Paul III (Alessandro Farnese) for his son Pier Luigi Farnese, Du ...

and was retaken in 1604 by a Dutch and English force under Maurice of Nassau. From 2006 until its closure in 2013,

Oud Sluis The oud ( ; , ) is a Middle Eastern short-neck lute-type, pear-shaped, fretless String instrument, stringed instrument (a chordophone in the Hornbostel–Sachs, Hornbostel–Sachs classification of instruments), usually with 11 strings grouped ...

was one of only two

Michelin Michelin ( , ), in full ("General Company of the Michelin Enterprises P.L.S."), is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes '' région'' of France. It is the second largest t ...

three-starred restaurants in the entire country.

Geography

In addition to the town of Sluis itself, the municipality is made up of the following population centres: Sint Anna ter Muiden, with a population of only 50 (2001), is a small village about 1 km west of the town of Sluis, located on the westernmost point of the Netherlands.

Demography

The population of the city is 2,040 (as of 2001).

Transport

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

connection across the Westerschelde exists between Breskens and

Vlissingen Vlissingen (; ) is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the island of Walcheren. With its strategic location between the Scheldt river and the North Sea, Vlissingen has been an importan ...

. After the opening of the Westerschelde tunnel near

Terneuzen Terneuzen () is a city and municipality in the southwestern Netherlands, in the province of Zeeland, in the middle of Zeelandic Flanders. With almost 55,000 inhabitants, it is the most populous municipality of Zeeland. History First mentione ...

in 2003, the ferry now carries only pedestrian and bicycle traffic.

Notable people

* John Crabbe (before 1305 in Muide – 1352)l a Flemish merchant, pirate and soldier * Joost de Soete (ca.1510/1520 in Sluis – 1589), a Dutch nobleman and Field Marshal * Jacob van Loo (1614 in Sluis – 1670), a painter of the

Dutch Golden Age The Dutch Golden Age ( ) was a period in the history of the Netherlands which roughly lasted from 1588, when the Dutch Republic was established, to 1672, when the '' Rampjaar'' occurred. During this period, Dutch trade, scientific development ...

* Joan Blasius (1639 in Cadzand — 1672), a Dutch poet, playwright, translator and lawyer * Johanna Jacoba van Beaumont (ca.1752 in Sluis - 1827), a politically active journalist, feminist and editor * Johan Hendrik van Dale (1828 in Sluis - 1872), a Dutch teacher, archivist and lexicographer * Ernst Oppler (1867–1929), German impressionist painter, lived for some years in Sluis * Hermine Moquette (1869-1971), Dutch archivist, born in Sluis * Jan Eekhout (1900 in Sluis - 1978), a Dutch writer, poet, translator and Nazi * Herman Wijffels (born 1942 in Turkeye), a retired Dutch politician and businessman * Hans Wijers (born 1951 in Oostburg), a retired Dutch politician and businessman * Ate de Jong (born 1953 in Aardenburg), a Dutch film director IMDb Database
retrieved 5 August 2019

Sport

Willem van Hanegem Willem "Wim" van Hanegem (; born 20 February 1944) is a Dutch former Association football, football player and coach who played as a midfielder. In a playing career spanning over 20 years, he won several domestic honours in the Netherlands, as ...

(born 1944 in Breskens), a Dutch former football midfielder with over 50 caps and 600 appearances in the top flight of association football * Annabel Kosten (born 1977 in Oostburg), a retired freestyle swimmer, bronze medallist at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Gallery

File:Sluis town hall.jpg, The town hall and the Belfort in Sluis File:Sluis church.jpg, The channel and the catholic church in Sluis File:Sint Anna ter Muiden2.jpg, A street of the village Sint Anna ter Muiden File:Retranchement, de Retranchementse Molen RM33921 foto6 2015-09-25 14.15.jpg, Retranchement, de Retranchementse Molen

References

External links

*
Official website
(in Dutch) {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2019 Zeelandic Flanders Populated places in Zeeland Municipalities of Zeeland Municipalities of the Netherlands disestablished in 1995 Municipalities of the Netherlands established in 2003 Cities in the Netherlands