Zierikzee

Sister cities

• Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët

History

Zierikzee, then located on the island of Schouwen, received city rights in 1248. In 1304, a fleet commissioned by the French and Dutch defeated a Flemish fleet in the naval Battle of Zierikzee. On 30 April 1917, a Royal Naval Air Service pilot entered Dutch airspace and mistakenly dropped eight bombs on Zierikzee, damaging several houses and killing a family of three. After initially denying the incident, the British government apologized and agreed to compensate the Dutch for damage and loss of life. In 1953, Zierikzee was damaged by the North Sea flood of 1953. The English town of Hatfield, Hertfordshire sent help and a friendship has developed. The two towns have been twinned. In 1997 the municipality of Zierikzee merged into that of Schouwen-Duiveland. In 2015, the last surviving example of the city's defensive cannons; cast in 1552, was donated to the city by the British coastguard. The coastguard had recovered it from a commercial diver, during a criminal investigation. The diver had found it off the Kent coast. On 27 June 2022, a tornado estimated at between F1 and F2 struck the city, killing one person and injuring nine others. Three hundred properties were damaged. File:Channel, Zierikzee, Netherlands.JPG|The channel that connects Zierikzee to Oosterschelde is mainly used by tourist boats. File:Velde-Zierikzee.png|View of Zierikzee (1618), by Esaias van der Velde File:Zierikzee 1649 Blaeu HR+.jpg|1649 map of Zierikzee (Zirizea) in Willem and Joan Blaeu's "Toonneel der Steden" File:Church, Zierikzee, Netherlands.JPG|The tower (Sint-Lievensmonstertoren) of Zierikzee was planned to be twice as high as it was eventually built. File:41012 Zuidhavenpoort zierikzee Met Noordhavenpoort.jpg|The Zuidhavenpoort and the Noordhavenpoort. File:Looking south along the…

Most-observed species

• Eurasian Spoonbill

  Platalea leucorodia Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  31,581
• Red-breasted Merganser

  Mergus serrator Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  25,636
• Little Egret/Western Reef-Heron

  Egretta garzetta (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  25,400
• Common Redshank

  Tringa totanus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  24,143
• Brant

  Branta bernicla (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  23,132
• Eurasian Oystercatcher

  Haematopus ostralegus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  22,864
• Eurasian Curlew

  Numenius arquata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  20,630
• Pied Avocet

  Recurvirostra avosetta Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  17,267