Sluis (West Flemish: Sluus) is a fortified city in the west of Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, in the Dutch province of Zeeland. The municipality to which the town belongs is also called Sluis, but the capital of this municipality is Oostburg. Until 1995, Sluis was an independent municipality. On January 1, 2020, the city of Sluis had 2,365 inhabitants.
Sluis was probably founded around 1260 by the Flemish
count Jan I of Namur and originally had the name Lamminsvliet. In
1324, however, Sluis got its current name. The city owes its origin
to the silting up of the Zwin. This blocked the direct connection of
the important trading city of Bruges with the sea and Sluis became
the most important outer port of Bruges. The village was granted
city rights in 1290 and because of its strategic location, the city
became a fortified city in 1382. In 1340, the Battle of Sluis had
already taken place in the mouth of the Zwin, which was the prelude
to the Hundred Years' War. In 1385 the construction of the Castle of
Sluis started, which was badly damaged during the French invasion in
1794 and finally demolished in 1820.
From 1387, Sluis was the
most important Burgundian fleet port. On January 7, 1430, the
wedding took place here between Philip the Good and Isabella of
Portugal. This reflected the importance of the city at the time. The
heyday of Sluis lasted until about 1450, after which a rapid decline
set in as a result of the silting up of the Zwin.
Sluis also
played an important role as a fortified city during the Eighty
Years' War. In 1587 the Duke of Parma captured the city. In 1603 a
Battle of Sluis took place. The Spanish occupation lasted until
1604, when the Spaniards left the city, after which Maurits van
Nassau, later Prince of Orange, took possession of the city. The
story of Jantje van Sluis originates from this episode. In 1650 the
famous Jodocus van Lodenstein became a minister in Sluis.
Although the city and surroundings subsequently played a role in the
State-Spanish Lines, it had otherwise only become an insignificant
town. On July 27, 1794, a siege by the French began. On August 25 of
the same year, the city surrendered, partly due to illness of the
defenders.
In 1858 the Damse Vaart was completed, allowing
ships to sail from Sluis to Bruges. In 1940, however, the siphons of
the Leopold Canal and the Schipdonk Canal were destroyed and never
repaired, making navigation on the Damse Vaart impossible.
At
the beginning of the 20th century, various French monastic orders
came to Sluis, and family visits to students attending boarding
schools became the reason that the shops were also opened on Sundays
from 1908, which remained that way and gradually attracted more and
more Belgian shoppers .
During the Allied bombings on October
11, 1944 as a result of the Second World War, Sluis was largely
destroyed. In addition, 61 people were killed. The Germans who had
entrenched themselves on and in the walls were unharmed. On November
1, 1944, they were attacked by the Canadian North Shore Regiment and
eventually surrendered, liberating Sluis.
After the war, the
city was rebuilt in a traditionalist style.
In
1907 the Brothers of the Christian Schools (F.S.C.) came to Sluis,
as they were no longer allowed to function in France as a result of
the secularization policy. They came from Saint-Omer and founded the
Pensionnat Saint-Joseph, where up to 550 students were present. It
was housed in a very large complex located on the southern approach
road to Sluis. In 1939 the fathers left and the occupying forces
used the buildings from 1940 to 1944. After that, NSB members were
interned in them until 1948. In 1951 the buildings were sold to a
Rotterdam firm and since then a number of companies have been in it.
such as a furniture factory, a grain trade and a brush factory.
There were a number of fires and in 1991 the building was
demolished. Where it once stood is now a residential area.
In
1908, the Soeurs de Sainte Ursule de la très Sainte Vierge
(Ursulines) founded a monastery on the road to Sint Anna ter Muiden.
A girls' boarding school was supposed to be built here, but it was
not a success, so the complex was sold in 1922 to the Brothers of
the Christian Schools in Baarle-Nassau. These turned it into a
holiday home and from 1938 until the German invasion it housed
Catholic Jewish refugees. From 1947 to 1974 there was a Minor
Seminary of the Regular Canons of St. John Lateran (C.R.L.), a
congregation of Augustinians, established here with the name: St.
Augustine. It has been a hotel restaurant since 1987.
A third
monastery of the expelled French was established on the road to
Heille. This Collège Séraphiques Saint-Antoine belonged to the
Franciscan Friars Minor and a seminary was also attached to it. It
was already sold in 1922 and became a bicycle factory, taken over by
Superia after the war, but this company soon stopped. This building
was also demolished in 2000.
The town of Sluis was largely destroyed in 1944 by Allied
bombing. The unique Belfry was also completely destroyed at the
time. However, the center has been rebuilt and the walls have
remained intact.
The only Dutch belfry is located in the
small-scale historic center of Sluis. This building also houses a
historical museum.
Windmill De Brak, on the southern exit road.
The historic city of Sluis used to have a direct connection with the
North Sea and the Western Scheldt via the Zwin. A remnant of the
Zwin can be considered the Damse Vaart, which is a canal that
gradually replaced the natural watercourse when it gradually silted
up. The Damse Vaart has a dead end in Sluis. There used to be a
harbor here, but shipping is no longer possible, because the Damse
Vaart was interrupted in 1940 when the siphons were destroyed.
The foundations of the former St. John's Church. This church, which
was one of the largest in the area, was built in the 14th century
and destroyed by fire in 1811.
The old Red Light District of
Sluis is still largely intact.
The Stone Bear.
Reformed Church
Joannes de Doperkerk
St. John's Church
The biggest eye-catcher of Sluis is the town hall, which is the only one in the Netherlands with a belfry, a fortified tower with four corner turrets. The town hall was built in 1390 as a symbol of urban freedom, following the example of the belfries in Ghent and Bruges. The building suffered heavy damage in 1944, after which it was rebuilt in 1956. The council chamber is closed off by an 18th-century wrought iron gate from the town hall of Middelburg. Paintings and a tapestry (1650) hang along the walls. The tower (142 steps) offers a wide view of the Zeeland landscape.