IJzendijke is a city in the municipality of

Sluis Sluis (; ; ) is a city and municipality located in the west of Zeelandic Flanders, in the south-western Dutch province of Zeeland. The current incarnation of the municipality has existed since 1 January 2003. The former municipalities of Oostb ...

, about 10 km east of

Oostburg Oostburg (Zeelandic Flemish: ''Wòstburg'') is a city in the south-western Netherlands. It is located in the municipality of Sluis, in the province of Zeeland. As of 1 January 2015, its population is 4731, down from 5008 in January 2005. It receiv ...

, in the 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 town received

city rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

in 1303.

History

The town was first mentioned in 1127 as Isendica, and means " dike of Iso (person)". IJzendijke used to be a possession of the Saint Peter's Abbey in

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

. In 1127, it joined the Flemish

Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Growing from a few Northern Germany, North German towns in the ...

. In 1303, it received

. It was flooded in 1374, and lost completely in the St. Elizabeth's flood of 1404. In 1587, a sconce was constructed by the Spanish troops, and conquered by

Maurice, Prince of Orange Maurice of Orange (; 14 November 1567 – 23 April 1625) was ''stadtholder'' of all the provinces of the Dutch Republic except for Lordship of Frisia, Friesland from 1585 at the earliest until his death on 23 April 1625. Before he became P ...

in 1604. Two ''

polder A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrology, hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as levee, dikes. The three types of polder are: # Land reclamation, Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a ...

''s were constructed, and after 1618, an

octagon In geometry, an octagon () is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, which alternates two types of edges. A truncated octagon, t is a ...

fortress was built with a central market square. In 1648, IJzendijke became a

garrison A garrison is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a military base or fortified military headquarters. A garrison is usually in a city ...

city. The Dutch Reformed church is an aisleless church built between 1612 and 1614. Between 1656 and 1659, it was enlarged to a stretched

. The war damage was repaired in 1949. Even though the fortress was deemed unconquerable,

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

managed to take the city. IJzendijk was home to 2,068 people in 1840. The fortification were demolished between 1841 and 1843 except for a western part. The southern part of the IJzendijke was severely damaged in 1944. IJzendijke was a separate municipality until 1970. Prior to 2003, the town was in the municipality of

. In 2003, it became part of the municipality of

Gallery

File:IJzendijke, centraal plein foto5 2013-05-05 12.24.jpg, Central square File:IJzendijke, de Nederlands Hervormde kerk RM31532 foto2 2013-05-05 12.19.jpg, Reformed church File:IJzendijke, de Onze Lieve Vrouwe ten Hemelopnemingskerk foto1 2013-05-05 12.26.jpg, Church: de Onze Lieve Vrouwe ten Hemelopnemingskerk File:IJzendijke, de Witte Juffer foto3 2013-05-05 12.05.jpg, Windmill: de Witte Juffer File:IJzendijke, het streekmuseum foto3 2013-05-05 12.14.jpg, Museum

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ijzendijke Cities in the Netherlands Populated places in Zeeland Former municipalities of Zeeland Sluis