Damme, a bit of history

Long ago, half the province of West-Flanders was a labyrinth 
of salty swamps, creeks and islands, until some monks, 
constructing a clever system of dikes and locks, could turn this
wild landscape into cultivated land; the famous polders.
As they lay below sea level, many pumps have to work
day and night to keep the land dry. Otherwise, the sea would
easily win back what it lost.
The system is fragile, and a massive attack by Neptune's forces
created in 1134 a new, big creek, enabling ships to sail far inland.
Damme was built at the very end of this creek, and, linked by a
canal, became the port of Bruges.
As the story goes, the dikes protecting Damme, were 
constructed by Batavians. One day, a crack appeared and water
started to pour out. The workmen had to act quickly and
blocked the hole with the first thing at hand. Which was a dog.

It explains why the original name of the town is "Hondsdamme".
Damme did very well, as long as Bruges was prosperious.
But the creek got slowly filled with mud and sand again. The
golden age of Bruges was finished.
A desperate attempt was undertaken, during the French
occupation, to connect Bruges again with the North Sea. 
A canal, named "Napoleonkanaal", was never finished, and
ends abruptly in the center of Sluis, a few kilometers short of
it's destination.
Today, the paths along the canal attrack cyclists and ramblers.
Many monuments in Damme testify of the towns bygone glory.
The little townhall, surrounded by old houses, is a gothic marvel.
Visit the church too, it's tower was once used as a lighthouse.
There is an old hospital with a very nice chapel and, of course,
plenty of small streets and squares with good
restaurants and bookshops where one can find lots of 
secondhand books, old engravings and comics.
Damme's most illustrious resident, the great medieval poet Jacob
van Maerlant, would have loved it.
His statue overlooks the old market square.
www.damme-online.com