Vlissingen; Zeelandic: Vlissienge; historical name in English: Flushing) is a municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the former island of Walcheren. With its strategic location between the Scheldt river and the North Sea, Vlissingen has been an important harbour for centuries. It was granted city rights in 1315. In the 17th century Vlissingen was a main harbour for ships of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). It is also known as the birthplace of Admiral Michiel de Ruyter.

Vlissingen is mainly noted for the yards on the Scheldt where most of the ships of the Royal Netherlands Navy (Koninklijke Marine) are built.

The derivation of the name Vlissingen is unclear, though most scholars relate the name to the word fles (“bottle”) in one way or another.

According to one story, when saint Willibrord landed in Vlissingen with a bottle in the 7th century, he shared its contents with the beggars he found there while trying to convert them. A miracle occurred, typical of hagiography, when the contents of the bottle did not diminish. When the bishop realised the beggars did not want to listen to his words, he gave them his bottle. After that, he supposedly called the city Flessinghe.

Another source states that the name had its origins in an old ferry-service house, on which a bottle was attached by way of a sign. The monk Jacob van Dreischor, who visited the city in 967, then apparently called the ferry-house het veer aan de Flesse (“the ferry at the Bottle”). Because many cities in the region later received the appendix -inge, the name, according to this etymology, evolved to Vles-inge.

According to another source, the name was derived from the Danish word Vles, which means “tides”.

The eastern cape of Novaya Zemlya, Cape Flissingsky was named after the city in 1596 by Willem Barentsz.

Tourist attractions[edit]

• Beeldenhuis (Statuehouse)
• Belgische Loodshuizen (Belgian Maritime Pilotshouses)
• Beursgebouw (Marketbuilding)
• Dokje van Perry (Perry’s Dock)
• Fontein ter nagedachtenis aan Elisabeth Wolff en Agatha Deken (Fountain)
• Fort Rammekens
• Garnizoensbakkerij en Kazematten (Garrisonbakery & Casemates)
• Gevangentoren (Prisontower)
• Grote of Sint-Jacobskerk (Church of St James the Great)
• Het Arsenaal (The Arsenal)
• Hoofdkantoor ‘De Schelde’ (Headquarter ‘De Schelde’)
• Koopvaardijmonument (Merchant Navy Monument)
• Lampsinshuis (House of the Lampsins family)
• Leeuwentrap (Lionsstairs)
• Lutherse kerk (Evangelical Lutheran Church)
• Zeevaartschool (Ship transport school)