Kluizen is a village in the municipalities of Evergem and

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

in the province of

East Flanders , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Province of Belgium , image_flag = Flag of Oost-Vlaanderen.svg , flag_size = , image_shield = Wapen van O ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. Large parts of the original municipality have become part of the Port of Ghent.

History

The area around Kluizen used to be a wilderness of heath and sand grounds. Between 1115 and 1119, the land was donated to the Ename Abbey by

Baldwin VII, Count of Flanders Baldwin VII of Flanders (1093 – 17 July 1119) was Count of Flanders from 1111 to 1119. Baldwin was the son of Count Robert II of Flanders and Clementia of Burgundy. He succeeded his father as count when he died on 5 October 1111. Reign Baldw ...

for cultivation and the construction of church. Kluizen became a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

before 1179. The village was first mentioned in 1270, and means hermitages. The area was cultivated by the late 13th century. Kluizen frequently suffered from war and was nearly depopulated during the

Eighty Year's War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) ( c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Refo ...

(1568–1648). World War I and II also caused severe damage to the village. There are still 18 bunkers which were built by the German army between 1916 and 1917. Kluizen used to be an independent municipality. Large parts of the municipality including the castle were annexed by Ghent for the construction of the Port of Ghent in 1927. Another annexation by Ghent followed in 1964, and the remainder was merged into

Ertvelde Ertvelde is a village of the Belgian municipality of Evergem. Eddy Wally used to have his legendary show venue in the village-centre, called "Paris, Las Vegas". The Brouwerij Van Steenberge is located in Ertvelde. The brewery produces Gulden Dra ...

, because it was considered too small to be independent. In 1977, the Ertvelde part became part of the municipality of Evergem. In 1974, a

water reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including control ...

was constructed near Kluizen to provide drinking water for the regions

Meetjesland The Meetjesland is a historical region in the north-west of the province East Flanders in Belgium. Etymology There are many legends surrounding the origin of the name. The most known is the one of Emperor Charles V (Charles V) who was known for hi ...

and Waasland. In 1996, the capacity was increased with a second reservoir. In 2007, it produced 77% of the drinking water in East-Flanders.

Buildings

The Our Lady of the Nativity Church is a three aisled hall church in neoclassic built between 1770 and 1772 as a replacement of the medieval church which was damaged around 1580 by the Calvinists. The church was enlarged between 1844 and 1845. On 22 May 1940, the tower was blown up and rebuilt between 1953 and 1956.

References

{{Authority control Evergem Geography of Ghent Populated places in East Flanders