Philippine

Philippine is a town in the municipality of Terneuzen. It is located in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, in the Dutch province of Zeeland. It had a population of 2127 in 2009. The city is known as a mussel city, a tradition that it inherits from its former port that was connected to the Western Scheldt.

In the year 1505, Jeronimus Laureijn, Lord of Watervliet, obtained the patent to dam his sixth polder. He named the polder Sainct Philippine, after Philip the Fair. He also received permission to found a so-called "closed city", which was also named Philippine, but was dependent on Watervliet, which was also founded by Jeronimus. He had plans to build a grand port city here for the County of Flanders, which would be able to compete with that of Antwerp in Brabant. His untimely death, the Eighty Years' War and the greater depth required by the discovery of America ensured that Philippine never became one.

In 1583, the Duke of Parma built a fortification in Philippine to protect North Flanders from the Sea Beggars. From 1633, however, during the Eighty Years' War, Philippine fell into the hands of the Northern Netherlands and served as a base for various operations against the Spanish rulers in Flanders. The fortress was expanded with a castle, four bastions, two ravelins and a water or harbour gate. The harbour gate opened onto the Braakman, which was in open connection with the Scheldt and the North Sea.
Philipsplein with church and kiosk

In the nineteenth century, Philippine developed into a thriving place for fishermen and mussel farmers. Due to extensive silting up of the Braakman, a canal had to be dug in 1900 to allow Philippine to maintain a connection with the sea. But Philippine lost its important position more and more to the growing Terneuzen, which was located directly on the Scheldt. The damming of the Braakman in 1952 marked the end of mussel culture. During the flood of 1953, however, this dam also protected the hinterland of Zeeuws-Vlaanderen from flooding.

Philippine became a village for commuters; All fortifications have been demolished to make way for new residential areas. What remained is the fame of the mussel restaurants. In the mussel season (August-April), buses with tourists come to Philippine to enjoy a mussel meal at one of the many mussel restaurants.

Tux