Zierikzee

Zierikzee was one of the larger towns of Zeeland in the Middle Ages, trading in salt, madder and fish, and it has around five hundred protected buildings inside its old boundary - one of the densest concentrations in the country - along with two medieval harbour gates, the Noordhavenpoort and Zuidhavenpoort, facing each other across the water at the harbour mouth. The Sint-Lievensmonstertoren was begun in 1454 to a design that would have made it the tallest church tower in the Low Countries at about a hundred and thirty metres; money ran out at about sixty and it has stood as a stump ever since, which is more striking than a finished tower would be. The town flooded catastrophically in 1953 and the water mark is recorded on buildings. The Watersnoodmuseum on the island covers that.

History

Zierikzee, then on the island of Schouwen, received city rights in 1248. When the town was damaged in the North Sea flood of 1953, the English town of Hatfield sent help, the start of a friendship that made the two towns twins, and in 2015 the last surviving one of the city's old cannons, cast in 1552 and found off the Kent coast, was handed to the city by the British coastguard (Wikipedia, Zierikzee).

What to look for

• About five hundred listed buildings - one of the densest historic centres in the country.
• Two facing harbour gates - medieval towers either side of the harbour mouth.
• An unfinished cathedral tower - stopped at sixty metres of a planned hundred and thirty.
• 1953 flood marks - the water level recorded on buildings around the town.

When to go

April to October. A day.

What to expect

The tower climb is seasonal. Museums close on Mondays. The town fills with boaters in summer. Public transport to Schouwen-Duiveland is slow.

Nearby

The Watersnoodmuseum is at Ouwerkerk; the Oosterschelde barrier is west.

Key facts