Terneuzen

Geschiedenis

Terneuzen is a city and municipality in the southwestern Netherlands, in the province of Zeeland, in the middle of Zeelandic Flanders. With over 55,000 inhabitants, it is the most populous municipality of Zeeland.HistoryFirst mentioned in 1325, Terneuzen was a strategically located port on the waterways to Ghent, in present-day Belgium.It received city rights in 1584.Tradition has it that Terneuzen was once the home of the legendary Flying Dutchman, Van der Decken, a captain who cursed God and was condemned to sail the seas forever, as described in the Frederick Marryat novel The Phantom Ship and the Richard Wagner opera The Flying Dutchman.Before 1877, the city was often called Neuzen.GeographyThe city of Terneuzen is located on the southern shore of the Western Scheldt estuary.The municipality of Terneuzen consists of the following population centres:EconomyNowadays the Ghent–Terneuzen Canal is still an important shipping route. The port of Terneuzen is the third largest in the Netherlands, after those of Rotterdam and Amsterdam. The largest plant of Dow Chemical Company outside of the United States is located at Terneuzen, on the west side of the Ghent-Terneuzen Canal.