Middelburg, Capital city in Zeeland, Netherlands.
This city lies on the island of Walcheren and spreads around a network of canals lined with merchant houses, warehouses and mansions from different centuries. More than 1100 protected buildings shape the old town with its narrow lanes and small squares.
The settlement received town rights in the twelfth century and grew in the seventeenth century into the second largest base for the Dutch East India Company after Amsterdam. Control over trade routes to Asia brought great wealth to the town, still visible today in the grand facades.
The abbey church houses on its upper floors a collection of sixteenth-century tapestries depicting Dutch naval battles against Spanish fleets. Visitors can also view the traditional costumes once worn by the inhabitants of Zeeland province in daily life.
The old town is easy to explore on foot since most sites sit close together and the lanes are closed to cars. At the main locations you will find information panels with QR codes that provide extra explanations on your own smartphone.
In the Kuiperspoort district the original medieval cobblestones still lie in place, and many door lintels carry carved house names instead of numbers. These names date back to the time when residents identified their homes through signs or descriptions.
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