Our coastline is now more or less straight, with some disturbances such as the IJzer estuary and the harbor channels of Ostend and Zeebrugge. In the past, the dunes were interrupted by flood channels that reached far inland. These channels silted up with sediments, but heavy storms consistently created new channels.

In the 11th century, monks brought knowledge about water management and began to dam marshes into polders. Cross-dikes were constructed to lose only limited areas of land during breaches. The name Bredene comes from the old Flemish “Breedene,” which means wide water.

Access to seaports and the drainage of rainwater required a lot of work, both in the past and now. The boundary between salt and fresh water constantly changed, and there are still many silent witnesses of this struggle to be seen. A bike ride through the Historical Polders of Ostend, such as the route “If the dikes break,” offers a great opportunity to discover all of this. This tour is limited to Bredene and the Ostend East Bank.