Sluis

Sluis
Municipality
Skyline of Sluis

Flag
Coat of arms
Highlighted position of Sluis in a municipal map of Zeeland
Location in Zeeland
Coordinates: 51°20′N 3°29′E / 51.333°N 3.483°E / 51.333; 3.483Coordinates: 51°20′N 3°29′E / 51.333°N 3.483°E / 51.333; 3.483
Country Netherlands
Province Zeeland
Government[1]
 • Body Municipal council
 • Mayor Marga Vermue-Vermue (CDA)
Area[2]
 • Total 307.16 km2 (118.60 sq mi)
 • Land 279.67 km2 (107.98 sq mi)
 • Water 27.49 km2 (10.61 sq mi)
Elevation[3] 2 m (7 ft)
Population (August 2017)[4]
 • Total 23,608
 • Density 84/km2 (220/sq mi)
Time zone UTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST) UTC+2 (CEST)
Postcode 4500–4519, 4524–4529
Area code 0117
Website www.gemeentesluis.nl

Sluis (Dutch pronunciation: [slœys] ( listen)) is the name of both a municipality and a town located in the west of Zeelandic Flanders, in the south-western part of the Netherlands.

The current incarnation of the municipality exists since on 1 January 2003. The former municipalities of Oostburg and Sluis-Aardenburg merged on that date. The latter of these two municipalities was formed from a merger between the previous municipality named Sluis and the former municipality of Aardenburg.

History

Sint Anna ter Muiden and Sluis on the Ferraris map (around 1775)

The town received city rights in 1290.

In 1340 the Battle of Sluys was fought nearby at sea.

There is a record of one of the first lotteries with money in 9 May, 1455 of 1737 florins ($US 170,000, in 2014)

During the Eighty Years' War in 1587 the town was captured by Spanish troops under the Duke of Parma and was retaken in 1604 by a Dutch and English force under Maurice of Nassau.

From 2006 until its closure in 2013, Oud Sluis was one of only two Michelin three-starred restaurants in the entire country.

Geography

Dutch Topographic map of Sluis, June 2015

In addition to the town of Sluis itself, the municipality is made up of the following population centres:

Sint Anna ter Muiden, with a population of only 50 (2001), is a small village about 1 km west of the town of Sluis, located on the westernmost point of the Netherlands.

Demography

The population of the city is 2,040 (as of 2001).

Transport

A ferry connection across the Westerschelde exists between Breskens and Vlissingen. After the opening of the Westerschelde tunnel near Terneuzen in 2003, the ferry now carries only pedestrian and bicycle traffic.

Notable residents

  • Seventeenth-century painter Jacob van Loo was from Sluis.
  • Johan Hendrik van Dale, the creator of the Dutch Van Dale dictionary, (Sluis, 15 February 1828 – 19 May 1872)
  • Ernst Oppler, German painter, lived some years in Sluis

See also

References

  1. ↑ "College B&W" [Board of mayor and aldermen] (in Dutch). Gemeente Sluis. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  2. ↑ "Kerncijfers wijken en buurten" [Key figures for neighbourhoods]. CBS Statline (in Dutch). CBS. 2 July 2013. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
  3. ↑ "Postcodetool for 4501BD". Actueel Hoogtebestand Nederland (in Dutch). Het Waterschapshuis. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  4. ↑ "Bevolkingsontwikkeling; regio per maand" [Population growth; regions per month]. CBS Statline (in Dutch). CBS. 27 October 2017. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
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