If this has piqued your interest in Dendermonde’s military past, there’s a three-kilometre walking trail set up by the city’s tourist office.

This route isn’t signposted, but can be done with a free leaflet and map.

You’ll witness bastions, ravelins, restored city gates, an infantry barracks, an arsenal and a military hospital, mostly from the beginning of the 18th century when Dendermonde was fortified by the Austrians and Dutch against a French attack that eventually came in the 1740s.

The leaflet comes with detailed descriptions of each sight, as well as an explanation of the convoluted geopolitics that made Dendermonde vulnerable to invasion.