Damme Attractions

The charming little Flemish town of Damme lies about 7km/4mi northeast of Bruges. Up until the silting of the Zwin inlet it served as the customs point and outer port of Bruges, in which capacity it enjoyed great importance and prosperity. Its heyday only lasted about 200 years but several significant buildings still remain from this period which give the town a contented atmosphere and have kept the image of a medieval Flemish town alive. In addition its highly-praised and excellent restaurants make Damme a popular destination for many gourmets.

In the second half of the 13th C. the "Vader der Dietsche Dichters" (Father of Dutch poets) Jacob van Maerlant lived in Damme where he wrote his most significant works. However, the town was immortalized as the home town of Thyl Ullenspiegel and Lamme Goedzak, the famous characters in the novel by Charles De Coster.

About 850 years ago, when the Zwin, a wide inlet, penetrated far into the coastal plain, Bruges began to gain importance as a port. A terminal dike was built up at the end of the Zwin on which a small town, which is now Damme, developed. It became the outer port of Bruges and received its town charter in 1180 but was burnt down in 1213 together with its fleet of 400 ships by the troops of the French king. Undeterred the citizens of Damme set about rebuilding so that it retained its function as port and commercial center with important nations and trading companies being represented here until the beginning of the 15th C.; in its heyday Damme was the chief trade center and the most important market in Europe for Swedish herring.

Silting up of Bruges harbor was already noticeable by the end of the 13th C., finally reaching the harbor basin at Damme. A final high point before its eventual decline was the marriage of Charles the Bold with Margaretha of York.