Saeftinghe
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Saeftinghe was a place in eastern Zeeuws-Vlaanderen near Nieuw-Namen. Nowadays it is a mud flat and nature reserve that is known as the Verdronken Land van Saeftinghe. (verdronken = "drowned".) Saeftinghe was drained in the 13th century under the management of the abbey of Ter Doest. Of the most well-known occupants of the abbey, one was Willem van Saeftinghe. Up to 1570 Saeftinghe was very fertile polder country. People got livelihood by agriculture and peat burning. There were 4 villages: Saeftinghe, Namen, Sint Laureins, and Casuwele. The Allerheiligenvloed in 1570 put the area under water again. Four years later the Verdronken Land reached into what is now Belgium. Only Saeftinghe and other pieces still were above water. During the Eighty Years' War Dutch soldiers in 1584 cut the last intact dike, and Saeftinghe disappeared under water. Diking was started and in 1907, the Hertogin Hedwige-polder was the last area conquered from the sea. The village of Emmadorp now lies on the edge of the Verdronken Land.
