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Sluis
Charles the Temerary married Margareta of York in Damme. His father, Filips the Good of Burgundy, choose Sluis for his wedding with Isabella of Portugal. Each town her share. According to the legend, 'Jantje van Sluis' avoided the capture of the town by the Spanjards. When the town clock struck 3, the besiegers would have attacked Sluis. Jantje was assigned to ring the bells, but he partied too much with his friends and fell asleep. The bells didn't ring and the Spanish postponed their attack. Another famous person from Sluis is Johan Hendrik van Dale, the writer of the 'Dikke van Dale' (the most important Dutch dictionary), who was Flemish.
In 1944, the town was heavily bombed. There wasn't much that still stood up right. After the war, the center was rebuilt taking into account the historical past. Small note: in 1830 Sluis almost belonged to Belgium. Worth seeing: walls, town gates, canal, quay, belfort, mill, center of town. you can find more info about Sluis on: www.sluisonline.nl and http://www.gemeentesluis.nl
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When
you follow the Napoleoncanal (Damse Vaart) from Damme in northern direction, you
eventually end up in Sluis. Sluis lies in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen (Netherlands)
and is at present day a busy shopping town. Sluis owes her existence - and
also her decay - to the silting up of the Zwin. Because of this silting
up, successively Damme, 
Sluis
came to existence in the second half of the 13th century and received her town
privileges in 1290. Untill 1324, this place was called Lamminsvliet; only
after that date people started calling it Sluis. Pretty soon Sluis became
an reinforced town: in 1382, Louis van Male (count of Flanders) had the place
fortified. The construction of the castle commenced in 1385; in 1794 it
was however that much damaged by French artillery that it was torn down in
1820. Other defence constructions did servive till present day. The
town center was completely encircled by walls which now have become a very nice
walking route. The most impressive gate was the Westgate or "Steenen
Beer" (Stone Bear), which was destroyed in 1437 by soldiers from Bruges,
but was rebuilt lateron. The fortified town was even more strengtened when
the duke of Parma showed up in the area (80-years war). A last
modification was done in 1702 by Menno van Coehoorn(Spanish Successionwar).
In 1568,
the 80-years war between Spain and the Northern Netherlands started. In 1587,
the duke of Parma conquered the town. Spanish galleys used the harbour as
base and dominated during many years the Zwin estuary. All things changed
when, in 1604, the Spanish governor left the bastion. Prince Maurits of
Nassau, settled in the town. The same year, he also took the town of 
A
last attempt to connect Bruges with the sea was done by Napoleon. He had
Spanish prisoners of war dig a canal between Bruges and Sluis (Damse
Vaart). The goal of this venture was to make a link with the Westerschelde
in Breskens. Because of his defeat, Napoleon's canal was never finished;
the diggers didn't get further than 
Sluis
used to have 2 churches: the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk and the Sint-Janskerk.
The last one was torn down in 1823, after it burnt down in 1811. The
present church was only built in the 20th century. The pride of the town
however, is the belfort annex town hall. This belfort is the only one in
the Netherlands! In 1960, a carillon was placed in the tower. Inside
the town walls also stands a windmill which was restored after it had been
severely damaged in World War II.