Round Sluis

If you cycle just outside Sluis, you have a beautiful view of the beautifully restored fortifications of this old town. There is still water running along it - and a nice cycle path. On one side, green meadows stretch out endlessly, while on the other side of the path you see the high ramparts that are laid out in a star shape. Also put your bike aside to walk into Sluis, because this historic town is very beautiful. The shops here are open every day, so you can also have a nice browse here on Sundays. In the centre, the De Brak mill immediately attracts attention. The mill owes its name to the French hunting dog breed Braque - hunting dogs stick their noses into the wind when hunting, just as the mill turns its sails towards the wind. This mill was the first stone mill in this region in 1739 and was built as a fortress mill on the southeastern border of the Sluis fort. The mill is still in regular operation and home-ground (pancake) flour is available in the mill. Less well-known but just as nice is Aardenburg, the oldest city in Zeeland. The Roman, medieval and 17th century fortifications, the centuries-old habitation and the high location make the soil of Aardenburg one big open-air museum. You can learn all about it in the Municipal Archaeological Museum. In recent years, several studios, galleries and antique shops have established themselves in this city, so it is worth taking a short walk. Be sure to take a look at the statue of Margareta Sandra, in the Verloren Kostje park - long ago the Southern Bulwark of the Aardenburg defences. Poems have been placed around the statue on the subject of War and Peace. The statue is an ode to Margareta Sandra, the wife of alderman Pieter Roman, who resisted a French invasion at the end of the 17th century by calling on the townspeople to fire pots, pans, kettles and chains with cannons at the enemy - and with success. The French were repelled twice at Aardenburg, quite an achievement. The area around Aardenburg is also worth a visit. After centuries of flooding and attempts to reclaim the land from the sea, the region around Aardenburg has been shaped in recent centuries mainly by land reclamation and agriculture. The beautiful landscape of dikes, polder roads and beautiful creeks is perfect for a bike ride. Further on you cycle a long way along the tree-lined Leopold Canal. When Belgian independence was declared and the separation from the Netherlands was declared, the Dutch closed off the drainage streams to the Western Scheldt - now Dutch territory. The polders on the Belgian side became so wet that malaria (at the time called polder fever) even broke out. The construction of the Leopold Canal provided a solution. In addition to its drainage function, it was also immediately given a military function, in case there would be another war with the Netherlands. That is why the canal more or less follows the border between Belgium and the Netherlands. However, it never got that far. The only time the canal fulfilled a military function was at the end of WWII, when heavy fighting took place here with the Germans, who absolutely wanted to keep the Scheldt estuary in their hands. The Leopold Canal automatically leads you to the Siphon (or Sifon), a hamlet at the place where the Damse Vaart is crossed by the Schipdonk and Leopold Canals. In the past, these canals were led under the Damse Vaart by means of a siphon, but it was destroyed in 1940. Now the canals continue and the Damse Vaart is interrupted. A very special place, beautifully overgrown with tall trees and wild bushes. The history of the Damse Vaart goes back even further - it was dug by order of Napoleon, during the French rule. He saw something in the idea of connecting the large North French ports with the Western Scheldt in Antwerp, via - among others - Bruges and Sluis. Thousands of Spanish prisoners of war were deployed for this large-scale project. At the fall of the empire, the canal was dug to just past Hoeke, William I had the waterway extended to Sluis at the beginning of the 19th century. If you follow the canal, you will automatically end up in this beautiful old fortified town, where you started your bike ride through the history of this special border area.