Historic towns
Visit Goes, Middelburg, Veere or Zierikzee for a day. These historic towns are easy to reach from the central villages in the municipality of Kapelle.
Goes
Goes has a few special listed buildings, such as the old council house on the Grote Markt, the Maria Magdalena church and the building housing the Historic Museum De Bevelanden. The marina in the centre of town is surrounded by beautiful warehouses. The names of the streets tell you something about the past: Bierkade (Beer quay), Beestenmarkt (Animal market), Houtkade (Timber quay) and Oude Vismarkt (old fish market). When you are in Goes, remember to walk through the Vuilstraatje. This is the narrowest street of Goes. Would you like to know more about the history of Goes? Then join the guided city tour, which is free of charge. You can walk this tour from May through October 2022 on Wednesday afternoons. More information can be found on the 't Gilde de Bevelanden website.
In addition to its beautiful buildings, Goes is also great for shopping. There are plenty of nice little boutiques.
Middelburg
Middelburg is the capital city of Zeeland, and it has more than 1100 listed buildings. It used to be one of the trading towns of the VOC (United East India Company). There are still many beautiful listed buildings from that era to see. If you walk along the quays, you can still see the old warehouses. When visiting this beautiful town, remember to see the following buildings: the ‘Koepoort’, the abbey with the Lange Jan tower, the historic townhall, the ‘Kloveniersdoelen’ and the ‘Oostkerk’. Make sure to put on your walking shoes, because many places are still paved with cobblestones.
Every first Sunday of the month between 1 and 5 p.m. there is an Art & Culture route in Middelburg. Several artists and galleries are housed in old buildings in the historic city centre. More information about the Art & Culture route is available on the Kunst- en Cultuurroute website (in Dutch).
Veere
Veere is a small but beautiful town. It is suffused with history. The small town’s most beautiful building is the town hall on the Markt. Another building worth seeing is the ‘Grote Kerk’. This church now functions as an experience and culture podium. Here, centuries-old stories are brought to life aided by the latest technology. On the Kaai there are also many well-conserved buildings, such as the Scottish houses and the ‘Campveerse Toren’ (Tower of Campveer). The centre of Veere is surrounded by ancient city walls. It is lovely to go for a walk her, past lake ‘Veerse Meer’ and the old creeks.
On Tuesdays in the summer months the old days are brought back to life during the historical market.
Zierikzee
Zierikzee is a historic town on the Oosterschelde river on Schouwen-Duiveland. It has a unique medieval street pattern and the oldest still functioning carillon in the Netherlands. There are many sights to see in Zierikzee: city gates, historic listed buildings, city walls and the ‘Gravensteen’, which is the oldest jailhouse in Zeeland. In addition, there is an old tidal harbour in which several historic vessels are moored.
The ‘Sint Lievensmonstertoren’ is also called the ‘Dikke Toren’ (fat tower). This tower offers a fantastic view of Zierikzee and beyond. When the weather is good, you can even see the Zeeland Bridge.