Everything about Middelburg totally explained
» This is about the city in the Netherlands. For other uses, see Middelburg (disambiguation).
Middelburg is a
municipality and a
city in the south-western
Netherlands and the
capital of the province of
Zeeland. It is situated on the peninsula of
Walcheren. It has a population of about 46,600.
History of Middelburg
The city of Middelburg dates back to the early 9th century or possibly the late 8th century. The first mention of Middelburg was as one of three fortified towns (for example,
borgs) erected on Walcheren (then an island) to guard against
Viking raids. In
844 a
monastery was built on the site, which remained in use until the
Eighty Years' War, when the northern
Netherlands won their independence from Spain.
Middelburg was granted
city rights in
1217.
During the
Middle Ages, it became an important trading centre in the trade between
England and the cities of
Flanders. Later, in the
17th century (the
Dutch Golden Age), it was an important centre for the
Dutch East India Company.
Much of the old city center was
bombed flat on May 17, 1940 by the German
Luftwaffe, to force the surrender of the Dutch armies in Zeeland. After the war, much of the centre was rebuilt as much as possible along prewar lines. The city's archives, however, were lost to the flames.
After the reconstruction, modern Middelburg has re-gained much of its historic character. There are lavish 17th and 18th century merchant houses and storehouses standing along
canals, of a similar style as found in cities like
Amsterdam. The old city
moats are still there, as is one of the
city gates, the Koepoort gate. Part of the 18th century moat and defence works however were demolished in the 19th century to make way for a Canal which crosses
Walcheren from
Vlissingen to
Veere. The medieval abbey is used today as a museum and as the seat of the provincial government.
Education
In 1575, when
William of Orange was about to found the first university in the Netherlands, he considered locating it in Middelburg but then chose
Leiden instead. Middelburg, and with it the whole of Zeeland, remained without a university until recently. Since 2004, the
Roosevelt Academy a college affiliated to
Utrecht University has been in operation in Middelburg.
Transportation
Middelburg has a
railway station with intercity train connections to
Vlissingen,
Goes,
Roosendaal,
Rotterdam,
The Hague,
Leiden,
Schiphol International Airport and
Amsterdam, among others.
Sports
Middelburg has a fieldhockey club, MMHC, and four football (soccer) clubs: MZVC, Zeelandia Middelburg, Jong Ambon and FC Dauwendaele. Jong Ambon is translated Young Ambon, and consists of mostly Ambonese players. FC Dauwendaele is the main club in Dauwendaele (
d side).
Population centres
Zuid
Zuid ("South") is a neighbourhood in Middelburg. It lies adjacent to Dauwendaele. The neighbourhood consists mostly of residential building projects. The town of
Oost-Souburg lies to the south, as does
Vlissingen.
The West part of Zuid was built in the mid-
1970s, the East part was built later, mainly in the late
1980s and early
1990s. There are significant changes in
architecture between the West and East parts.
There are
educational and
recreational facilities available. There numerous Sports teams in positioned in the neighborhood, mainly
soccer teams, but also a couple of
basketball and
hockey teams.
Twin cities
Vilvoorde, Belgium
Nagasaki, Japan
Glogow, Poland
Simeria, Romania
Teius, RomaniaFurther Information
Get more info on 'Middelburg'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://middelburg.totallyexplained.com">Middelburg Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
