2218 NETHERLANDS (Netherlands / Zeeland) - Children from Walcheren in traditional costume

Located in the south-west of the country, the province of Zeeland consists of a number of islands and peninsulas (hence its name, meaning "sea-land") and a strip bordering Belgium. It is famous for the mussels and oysters from Yerseke, the dikes, dunes and the Delta Plan to prevent flooding (it lies below sea level), but also for the traditional costumes. Because the people were separated by water, each island developed its own typical costume. Especially the women's costumes could be easily distinguished from one another because they often wore completely different caps.

0098 NETHERLANDS (Netherlands / Zeeland) - A beautiful basilica, pursued by bad luck

Although in nowadays is a small town with only 28,000 inhabitants, Hulst (Holly in English), located to the east of Zeelandic Flanders, approximately 30km east of Antwerp, was in the Middle Ages an important seaport and a town coveted by many. After it received city rights in 1180, it has developed rather in tranquility until the Eighty Years' War, or the Dutch War of Independence (1568–1648), between the Seventeen Provinces (Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, North of France and a small part of Western Germany) and Spain, which held these lands from the time of Charles V. It was successfully besieged by the Dutch in 1591, but Spain took it back in 1596, for that in 1645 the Dutch army to recapture it, after it had failed 5 years before. In 1702 it withstood a siege again, but in 1747 fell into the hands of the French. Meanwhile a star fort was constructed, the fortifications being a historic example of Dutch fortress architecture. On the other hand, the colmation of the harbour in the 17th century has reduced the city's commercial importance.