Enjoying the attractive capital of Zeeland

This walk takes you from the countryside to Middelburg, the capital of Zeeland. You start and end your walk near Koudekerke, where you pass windmill De Lelie, a corn and hulling mill from 1872. You walk through the quiet polder with its grass and arable land to the Ter Hooge estate. This approximately 25-hectare estate consists largely of a park and forest area. The park is mainly laid out in the English landscape style and extends around a beautiful castle. Two octagonal stair towers rise high above the estate. The first castle was built here in the Middle Ages, but the current complex was built in 1755 on the foundations of the old castle. Middelburg has a rich past: after the threat of Vikings was over, the former burg began to benefit from its favorable location on the water. Middelburg developed into a trading center and was the second most important city in the Netherlands at the time of the VOC. In 200 years, more than 300 new ships were built at the shipyards. In the center of Middelburg you can still see buildings that remind you of this golden period. Dam Square, for example, was originally the terminus of the old sixteenth-century harbour. This harbor still has a wooden bottom. There are many beautiful patrician houses along Dam Square. Be sure to walk into the Kuiperspoort, a well-hidden and picturesque street with old warehouses, restored houses, stepped gables and beautiful details. They give you a nice picture of what Middelburg looked like from the time of the VOC. In the middle of the city you will pass the Abbey complex, which consists of a fairly round building with four large towers, various gates and the Abdijplein in the middle. It is a good place to relax for a while. Although there are of course more of these places to be found in Middelburg with its many cozy cafes. During your walk you walk out of the old ring wall of Middelburg several times, so that you have a beautiful view of the former fortifications. You will see, among other things, the Seismolen, a former corn mill from 1728. While walking across the Vlissings Bolwerk, you will come face to face with De Hoop mill, a former corn and hulling mill from 1735. After all this Middelburg eye candy, walk you go back into the polder for a while before you return home satisfied after a long but beautiful day.