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Damme (near Bruges)
The town of Damme, which is four miles northeast of Bruges, had great importance in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries as the outer port of Bruges. Due to silting up of the river Zwin, the tide ceased to reach Bruges by about 1200, and the port at Damme was constructed. When the river Zwin silted up again and blocked the approach to Damme, the town lost this function, and it is now a small village. In terms of economic activity, Bruges became a dead city and the port of Antwerp replaced it in importance. The town hall remains as a token of the earlier economic strength of Damme. Built in 1464-68 by Gottfried de Bosschere, it is an excellent example of late Gothic architecture.
Onze Lieve Vrouw, Damme
Civic Buildings - Town Hall, Gottfried de Bosschere, 1464-68.
Houses - 15th c. Houses (recently restored)
photos by J. Howe
Jeffery Howe, 1997