Towards Knokke and back through nature

You then drive along a beautiful rural route to the old fortified town of Sluis, which was created when the Zwin nature reserve started to silt up. As a result, the direct connection with the trading city of Bruges was blocked and Sluis was given the opportunity to flourish further. Sluis became the most important port of Bruges and due to its strategic location, the city, which was granted city rights in 1290, became a fortified city in 1392. Three hundred years, and many battles later, Sluis became less important, but no battle was as devastating as the Allied bombing on October 11, 1944, which reduced Sluis to a smoking mess in which 61 residents died. After the Second World War the city was rebuilt in traditionalist style. The walls have remained intact and the small, cozy, historic center has been restored to its former glory. Lissewege is located just in front of your starting point and a stone's throw from the Flemish coast. You really should stop here again. Lissewege is also called the white village, because the houses in the old village center have been painted white for centuries. The imposing 13th century church of Our Lady of the Visitation towers high above the polders and is in itself a reason to visit the village. The old houses along the picturesque old Vaartje are witnesses of long ago.

In the Visitor Center'The Old Parsonage\\\' more than 120 saints keep watch in their own museum. And just outside the village center is the largest medieval storage shed in Europe in the former Cistercian abbey Ter Doest. As an extra, visitors receive a free open-air exhibition during the summer months in Lissewege.