Visit Holland - The Netherlands

Vlissingen

Vlissingen (historical name in English: Flushing) is a municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the former island of Walcheren.

VROOM Hendrick Cornelisz The Arrival at Vlissingen of the Elector Palatinate Frederick VWith its strategic location between the Scheldt river and the North Sea, Vlissingen has been an important harbour for centuries. It was granted city rights in 1315. In the 17th century Vlissingen was a main harbour for ships of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). It is also known as the birthplace of Admiral Michiel de Ruyter.Vlissingen is mainly noted for the wharves on the Scheldt where most of the ships of the Royal Netherlands Navy (Koninklijke Marine) are built.

History
The fishermen’s hamlet that came into existence at the estuary of the Schelde around AD 620 has grown over its 1,400-year history into the third-most important port of the Netherlands. The Counts of Holland and Zeeland had the first harbours dug. Over the centuries, Vlissingen developed into a hub for fishing, especially the herring fishery, commerce, privateering and the slave trade. During the heyday of the Dutch Golden Age, ships from Vlissingen set sail for the various outposts of the Dutch colonial empire and contributed to the world power of The Seven Provinces.

Beurs - Vlissingen - NederlandThe history of Vlissingen was also marked by invasion, oppression and bombardments. Because of its strategic position at the mouth of the Schelde, the most important passageway to Antwerp, it has attracted the interest, at one time or another, of the British, the French, the Germans and the Spanish. Floods have also been a constant threat. Vlissingen declined during the 18th century. The Napoleonic Wars were particularly disastrous. After 1870, the economy revived after the construction of new docks and the Walcheren canal, the arrival of the railway and the establishment of the shipyard called De Schelde. The Second World War interrupted this growth. The city was heavily damaged by shelling and inundation.

The city was rebuilt after the war. In the 1960s, the seaport and industrial area of Vlissingen-Oost developed and flourished. Now this area is the economic driving force behind central Zeeland, generating many thousands of jobs. Nowadays approx. 50,000 ships annually from all corners of the world pass through the Schelde. Tourists are attracted to Vlissingen not just because of its history and maritime character, but also because nowhere else in the world do large ships pass this close to shore.

Historical English name "Flushing"
Vlissingen was historically called "Flushing" in English. In the 17th century Vlissingen was important enough to be a town that English speakers referred to and that had acquired its own English name. For example, Samuel Pepys referred to the town as "Flushing" in his diaries. In 1673 Sir William Temple referred to Vlissingen as "Flushing" once and "Flussingue" twice in his book about the Netherlands.[1] Some English writers in the Netherlands also used the Dutch name.

Flushing, originally a Dutch colonial village and now part of Queens, New York City, was first called Vlissingen after the town in the Netherlands. The English settlers who also came to live in the village[2] shortened the name to "Vlissing" and then began to call it by its English name, Flushing, and this continued and grew after the conquest of New Netherland. The corruption of "Vlissingen" into "Flushing" did not occur after the conquest of New Netherland, but in England well before then. This village was the site of the Flushing Remonstrance.

The village of Flushing in Cornwall was also named after Vlissingen. Originally named Nankersey, the village was given its name by Dutch engineers from Vlissingen in the Netherlands who built the three main quays in the village.

Even in modern times, some use "Flushing" as the English name of the town and maintain that it is still the correct English name.

Tourist attraction
The Marketbuilding at Beursplein (Marketsquare)
Part of the shoppingstreet Walstraat in 2010

*  Beeldenhuis (Statuehouse)
*  Belgische Loodshuizen (Belgian Maritime Pilotshouses)
*  Beursgebouw (Marketbuilding)
*  Dokje van Perry (Perry's Dock)
*  Fontein ter nagedachtenis aan Elisabeth Wolff en Agatha Deken (Fountain)
*  Fort Rammekens
*  Garnizoensbakkerij en Kazematten (Garrisonbakery & Casemates
*  Gevangentoren (Prisontower)
*  Grote of Sint-Jacobskerk (Saint-Jameschurch)
*  Het Arsenaal (The Arsenal)
*  Hoofdkantoor 'De Schelde' (Headquarter 'De Schelde')
*  Koopvaardijmonument (Merchant Navy Monument)
*  Lampsinshuis (House of the Lampsins family)
*  Leeuwentrap (Lionsstairs)
*  Lutherse kerk (Evangelical Lutheran Church)
*  Zeevaartschool (Ship transport school)
*  Standbeeld Michiel de Ruyter (Michiel de Ruyter Statue)
*  NS-Station Vlissingen (Train Station)
*  Onze Lieve Vrouwekerk (Church of Our Lady)
*  Oranjemolen (The Orange Mill)
*  Plein Vier Winden (Square Four Winds)
*  Sardijntoren (Sardijntower)
*  Stadhuis Vlissingen (City Hall)
*  Timmerfabriek (Carpentryfactory)
*  Watertoren (Water tower)
*  Willem III Kazerne (Barracks of William III)
*  Windorgel (Windorgan)
*  Wooldhuis (Wooldhouse)
*  Zeemanserve (Cornelia Quackshofje) (Seaman's quarter)

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