The Drowned Land of Saeftinghe
A rich Dutch town vanished under the sea in 1584. On stormy nights, people say, you can still hear its church bells across the marsh.
What was reported
Saeftinghe was a prosperous town on the edge of the Scheldt estuary, surrounded by farmland won from the sea. It was badly damaged by a great flood in 1570 and finally lost in 1584, during the Eighty Years' War, when the dykes were breached and the land drowned.
Legend says the town brought its fate on itself. Fishermen caught a mermaid, and the townspeople refused to let her go, so her husband cursed Saeftinghe to be swallowed by the sea. On stormy nights, it's said, the bells of its church can still be heard ringing beneath the marsh.
Explanations offered
The flood was real and was partly caused by soldiers breaching the dykes for military reasons. Today the area is one of the largest salt marshes in Western Europe, crossed by tidal creeks where walkers can get lost and cut off by the tide, so it's visited only with guides. The bells belong to a family of drowned-town legends.
- When
- Flooded in 1584
- Where
- Saeftinghe, Zeeland, Netherlands
- Witnesses
- Dutch folklore and visitors to the marsh
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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