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'Bergen op Zoom' () is a municipality and a city in the South of the Netherlands.

Contents

History

Population centres

The city of Bergen op Zoom

Places to Visit

External links

History

Bergen of Zoom was granted city status probably in 1266. In 1287 the city and its surroundings became a lordship as it was separated from the lordship of Breda. The lordship was elevated to a margraviate in 1559. Several families ruled Bergen op Zoom in succession until 1795, although the title was only nominal since at least the seventeenth century.
During the early modern period, Bergen op Zoom was a very strong fortress and one of the main armories and arsenals of the United Provinces. It had a remarkable natural defensive site, surrounded as it was by marshes and easily-floodable polders. Furthermore, it could receive reinforcements and supplies by sea, if the besieging army did not have a fleet to blockade its port.
Due to these features, the city was one of the strategic points held by the revolted Dutch in the Eighty Years War. It was at that time besieged by Alessandro Farnese first in 1587, and by Ambrosio Spinola a second time in 1622. Both sieges were unsuccessful.
In 1747, during the War of the Austrian Succession, the French army laid siege to it again. At that time, Bergen op Zoom had fortifications built in the beginning of the 17th Century by Menno van Coehoorn, with three forts surrounding the city and a canalized sprout of the Escaut acting as a ditch around its walls. However, it had no second line of fortifications, nor any fortress. After seventy days of siege, the city was taken and thoroughly sacked ; the garrison was slaughtered. Due to this battle, the name of the city can be seen on one of the arches on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

Population centres

★ 'Bergen op Zoom' (population: 65,691, July 2006)

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★ Heimolen

★ Halsteren (11,410)

★ Lepelstraat (2,070)

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★ Kladde

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★ Klutsdorp

The city of Bergen op Zoom

The Markiezenhof Palace, built in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, houses a cultural centre and a museum with a picturesque courtyard, paintings, period rooms, and temporary exhibitions.
GE Plastics operates a major manufacturing facility at its European headquarters in Bergen op Zoom.
Another major plant/employer in the city is Philip Morris.

Places to Visit

★ The Markiezenhof

★ The Centrum

★ Grote Markt

★ Lievenvrouwenstraat

★ Gevangenpoort

★ Hotel & Residence de Draak

External links

★ Official Website

★ Detailed Falkplan map covering the whole municipality

★ Detailed Citoplan map covering the town

★ Citoplan map covering the whole municipality, at a smaller scale

★ Art project in the public space of Bergen op Zoom, at Erasmuspc, international network for cities and culture