Middelburg, capital of the province of Zeeland, is the fourth in the rankinglist of monumental cities in the Netherlands. Its 1100 protected buildings form an impressive list for what is quite a small town. It is also an old city, founded in the 9th century as one of three fortresses (middel=middle, burg=fortress) built to defend the island of Walcheren against the Vikings. This fortress evolved into a trade centre, and in ca. 1123 was extended with an abbey which became a religious centre. of major importance. For centuries the islands of Zeeland were claimed by Flanders and Holland. In 1323 Holland won the conflict, but a Flemish influence remained. The trade with Flanders, England and France lead to an enormous growth of the city. In 1559 abbot Nicolaas de Castro becomes the first and last bishop of the newly founded diocese of Middelburg. The 80-years War started a new period. In 1574, after a siege of two years, the city was forced to surrender to the protestant army of the prince of Orange. The catholics were forced to leave the city, which was turned into a centre of protestantism. In 1585 Spain reconquered Antwerpen, and many protestants from that city fled to Middelburg. Among them many merchants and craftsmen. In 1602 the VOC, the United East-India Company, was founded. This organisation monopolised trade with the East-Indies and had a major office, warehouses as well as warfs in Middelburg. The later founded WIC, the West-India Company, was mostly limited to Zeeland. Its slavetrade turned out to become a major business for Middelburg. In 1795 the French army made an end to the Republic and Middelburg became a quiet town, mostly of importance as the residence of the provincial government. The end of the 19th century saw the restoration of several monumental buildings, including the abbey.
On May the 17th of 1940 German planes bombed Middelburg. Much of the centre was destroyed. The most important monuments were restored or reconstructed later.

The tower of the Gothic Kloosterkerk, the church of the abbey. Once a big church, it's now divided in three seperate spaces and is used for protestant services, concerts and exhibitions. The tower, named Lange Jan ('long John'), is 85 metres high and dominates the whole island of Walcheren.

The abbey has its origins in a small monastery near the river Arne, founded in ca. 1127 by praemonstratensers/norbertijnen from Antwerpen. In 1574 the protestants capture the city and the priests are forced to leave Middelburg. The abbey then becomes the seat of the provincial government. The complex was greatly damaged during the bombing of 1940, but was restored and reconstructed after the war.

The Oostkerk was the first church in Middelburg specially built for protestant services. This octagonal centralizing church was finished in 1667, after 20 years. Although built for the new eastern quarters of the city, where there was no confiscated catholic church that could be used, the entire population of Middelburg was forced to pay for it in the form of extra taxes on wine and beer.

The Gasthuiskerk ('hospital church') was built in 1493-1494 as the chapel of the St. Barbara hospital. After the Reformation it was used by English merchants for ten years, after which it became a reformed church. In 1798 it was returned to the catholic community, which continued to use it until 1846. Since that year it has been used by various branches of the Gereformeerden. Originally the chapel was hidden from view by several houses which were demolished in the 1960's.

This former chapel of a monastery was built in the 15th century became the English church in 1629, after having been used as a weaving-mill since 1592. It's now a reformed church.

The Baptist church is a building in neo-Renaissance style from 1889, designed by K. Stoffels.

This church in moderate Expressionistic style was built in 1930 for the Gereformeerde kerk, a branch of protestantism that built many churchs in a similar style in other parts of the country in the same period.

The Roman Catholic H.H. Petrus en Pauluskerk was built in 1949-1951 in Traditionalistic style, as a replacement for the previous church destroyed in 1940. Architect was C.M. van Moorsel.

The town hall is an important example of a profane building in Brabantine Gothic style. Three generations of the famous Keldermans family of architects and sculptures were involved during its construction, which lasted from 1451 until 1620. In 1940 it was badly damaged, but thankfully it has been restored to its former glory.