Spermaliehoeve

The homestead that is preserved today is a reconstruction from after World War I, designed by architect Raison. The entrance gate is the signboard of what has now become a vacation farm. An annual tradition in the barn was the performance of Willem Vermandere, West Flanders' most famous cabaret singer.
This homestead has a very old history. A certain Lady Gela had a Cistercian abbey established here around 1200 on countly land; she likely received it directly from the count as a gift. The abbey was called Nieuwland or also Monialia de Nova Terra because it was built on newly reclaimed land.
After less than half a century, the Cistercian nuns moved to Spermalie, near Sijsele. The name Spermalie originates from the old Flemish 'spaermaelghen', which would mean 'poor marshy lands'; not so surprising when considering that this land east of Bruges was only drained from the thirteenth century onward.
At this new location, the abbey was named "Our Lady of New Jerusalem, named Spermalie." However, the old abbey was also retained and even expanded.
The expansion, at the site of the current Spermaliehof, was called Jonkervliete. This is because these new buildings were erected on the territory of Honckevliete, as Sint-Pieters-Kapelle was still called at that time. The old abbey buildings were known as the Old Court.
These original monastery buildings were located on the territory of Slijpe, about 200 meters east of the current buildings. The first tenant of Spermaliehof had these buildings demolished in 1452.
The homestead in Sint-Pieterskapelle was soon referred to as Spermaliehof, after the old mother monastery in Sijsele. Thus, there is a transfer of a toponym here, over a distance of as much as 30 km.

Toerisme Middelkerke