Scheldt Estuary

The Scheldt reaches the North Sea through a wide delta of tidal channels and islands. These waters connect Antwerp and the towns of Zeeland to the sea, while their shifting shallows have long made navigation a matter of local knowledge. In the late Middle Ages Middelburg, Veere and other ports prospered around the estuary. During the sixteenth century the Western Scheldt became the chief approach to Antwerp, whose growth brought ships and merchants through the channels past Flushing and the Zeeland islands.