Stories in Middelburg
26 stories about the places on our Middelburg walks. Hear them on the spot in the app
Hear them where they happened
One map of Middelburg. 26 stories on it.
Open ROODS in your browser, walk to a pin and hear its story right there. Nothing to install.
The Korte Burg and the phoenix
Many facades carry a small stone with an eagle rising from the flames and the year 1940 beneath it.
The Pijpstraat and De Arabier
A pijp was a wine barrel, and the factory that stood here branded its casks with an Arab on horseback.
Dam
The oldest harbour area of the city, created by damming a creek.
Suikerpoort
An entire industry that went from twelve mills to zero in thirty years.
Balans
In 1756, a letter arrived here ordering people by the unit.
Kinderdijk
Four warehouses named after beasts of burden, standing beside a canal the town dug for itself.
Rouaansekaai
Ships set sail from these quays that officially weren't allowed to sail at all.
Kuiperspoort
Without a well-made barrel, no cargo made it across the ocean in one piece.
Bellinkstraat
This is where the innkeepers lived who supplied crews to the ships.
Fish Market
The city's first wealth came from wine, which was required by law to dock here.
Kousteensedijk and the library
A warehouse complex once stood behind the courthouse, and before that, a house full of forced labour.
Korendijk and the Den Eenhoorn warehouse
The date on this facade probably doesn't tell the whole story, and the same goes for plenty of other buildings.
Compagnieplein and the MCC Shipyard
This is where the ships were built, with an orlop deck just a metre forty high.
Molstraat
Named after a boat that kept the harbour from silting up.
Damplein and the grain exchange
Fifty buildings torn down to make room for cars. Then someone installed radioactive art in their place.
Hofplein and the Van de Perre House
A city palace with the wrong name, standing where a vanished church once was.
Spanjaardstraat
In 1460, the city council officially designated this street as the red-light district.
Verwerijstraat
Two porters, a wine barrel, and a house name that explains itself.
Oostkerk
Twenty years of construction, funded by beer and wine, and a skeleton carved above the door.
The Helm and the Observatory
A spectacle maker invented the telescope right here. He never got the patent.
Kapoengang
The town prison once stood behind this alley, complete with a torture chamber and torture chair.
Hofje onder de Toren
Twelve small houses, deliberately built low. In 1994, the council wanted to demolish them.
Abdijplein and the Lange Jan
The most powerful abbey in Zeeland, with a tower that burned down three times.
The market square and town hall
The square only came into existence after a church was demolished to make way for it.
Oostkerkkwartier
Two houses two hundred metres apart, with the far ends of the triangular trade written on their facades.
Lange Delft and the Gasthuiskerk
Hidden in the facades of this shopping street, an eagle rises from the flames.
You've read about Middelburg.
Now walk it.
These stories are pins on our map. Open ROODS, walk to one, and hear it where it happened.