# Sluis

Sluis (Dutch: ; Zeelandic: Sluus; French: Écluse) is a city and municipality located in the west of Zeelandic Flanders, in the south-western Dutch province of Zeeland.
The current incarnation of the municipality has existed since 1 January 2003. The former municipalities of Oostburg and Sluis-Aardenburg merged on that date. The latter of these two municipalities was formed from a merger between the previous municipality named Sluis and the former municipality of Aardenburg in 1995.

## History

The town received city rights in 1290. In 1340 the Battle of Sluys was fought nearby at sea during the Hundred Years' War. There is a record of one of the first lotteries with money on 9 May 1455 of 1737 florins (US$170,000, in 2014).
During the Eighty Years' War in 1587 the town was captured by Spanish troops under the Duke of Parma and was retaken in 1604 by a Dutch and English force under Maurice of Nassau.
From 2006 until its closure in 2013, Oud Sluis was one of only two Michelin three-starred restaurants in the entire country.

## Geography

In addition to the town of Sluis itself, the municipality is made up of the following population centres:
* Aardenburg
* Breskens
* Cadzand
* Draaibrug
* Eede
* Groede
* Heille
* Hoofdplaat
* IJzendijke
* Nieuwvliet
* Oostburg
* Retranchement
* Schoondijke
* Sint Anna ter Muiden
* Sint Kruis
* Terhofstede
* Waterlandkerkje
* Zuidzande
* Zwindorp
Sint Anna ter Muiden, with a population of only 50 (2001), is a small village about 1 km west of the town of Sluis, located on the westernmost point of the Netherlands.

## Demography

The population of the city is 2,040 (as of 2001).

## Transport

A ferry connection across the Westerschelde exists between Breskens and Vlissingen. After the opening of the Westerschelde tunnel near Terneuzen in 2003, the ferry now carries only pedestrian and bicycle traffic.

## Notable people

* John Crabbe (before 1305 in Muide – 1352)l a Flemish merchant, pirate and soldier
* Joost de Soete (ca.1510/1520 in Sluis – 1589), a Dutch nobleman and Field Marshal
* Jacob van Loo (1614 in Sluis – 1670), a painter of the Dutch Golden Age
* Joan Blasius (1639 in Cadzand — 1672), a Dutch poet, playwright, translator and lawyer
* Johanna Jacoba van Beaumont (ca.1752 in Sluis - 1827), a politically active journalist, feminist and editor
* Johan Hendrik van Dale (1828 in Sluis - 1872), a Dutch teacher, archivist and lexicographer
* Ernst Oppler (1867–1929), German impressionist painter, lived for some years in Sluis
* Hermine Moquette (1869-1971), Dutch archivist, born in Sluis
* Jan Eekhout (1900 in Sluis - 1978), a Dutch writer, poet, translator and Nazi
* Herman Wijffels (born 1942 in Turkeye), a retired Dutch politician and businessman
* Hans Wijers (born 1951 in Oostburg), a retired Dutch politician and businessman
* Ate de Jong (born 1953 in Aardenburg), a Dutch film director

### Sport

* Willem van Hanegem (born 1944 in Breskens), a Dutch former football midfielder with over 50 caps and 600 appearances in the top flight of association football
* Annabel Kosten (born 1977 in Oostburg), a retired freestyle swimmer, bronze medallist at the 2004 Summer Olympics

## Gallery

* The town hall and the Belfort in Sluis
* The channel and the catholic church in Sluis
* A street of the village Sint Anna ter Muiden
* Retranchement, de Retranchementse Molen