Kemzeke is a village in the

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

municipality of

Stekene Stekene () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders. Since 1976, the municipality has comprised the towns of Kemzeke, Klein-Sinaai and Stekene proper. It also includes the village Koewacht. In 2021, Stekene had a total p ...

in the province of East-Flanders. Until 1977, it was an independent municipality. It is located between the Dutch border and

Sint-Niklaas Sint-Niklaas (; french: Saint-Nicolas, ) is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Sint-Niklaas proper and the towns of Belsele, Nieuwkerken-Waas, and . Sint-Nikl ...

Overview

In 1117, the parish of Kemzeke became independent from

Waasmunster Waasmunster () is a municipality located in the Flemish province of East Flanders, in Belgium. The municipality only comprises the town of Waasmunster proper. In 2021, Waasmunster had a total population of 10,912. The total area is 31.93 km2. ...

. Around 1630, the Sint-Jan fortress was built near Kemzeke as part of the defensive lineage between the Dutch Republic and the Spanish Netherlands. The fortress was never conquered, but was left to deteriorate, and was later dissected by a road during the Austrian period. In 1977, the municipality merged into Stekene except for the hamlet of 't Hol which became part of

Sint-Gillis-Waas Sint-Gillis-Waas (;Every word in isolation: . french: Saint-Gilles-Waes) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of De Klinge, , Sint-Gillis-Waas proper and . On 1 January 2018, Sin ...

. The former municipality covered an area of .

Eddy Merckx Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx (, ; born 17 June 1945), better known as Eddy Merckx, is a Belgian former professional road and track bicycle racer who is among the most successful riders in the history of competitive cycling. His victorie ...

rode his last cycling race in Kemzeke, in which he finished 12th.

Verbeke Foundation

The Verbeke Foundation is a privately owned museum of modern and contemporary art. It is owned by Geert Verbeke, an art collector. It contains a 12 hectares nature area and 20,000 square metres of buildings making it one of the largest private contemporary art in Europe, and is home to residential artists.

Nature

The nature reserve De Gavers consists of wetlands. The area around the Gavermeer is an important bird refuge. The reserve includes a seven hectares

arboretum An arboretum (plural: arboreta) in a general sense is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, man ...

which contains more than 170 species of trees.

References

External links

* {{commons category-inline
Village site
(in Dutch) Stekene Populated places in East Flanders Former municipalities of East Flanders