Terneuzen is a city in the southwestern Netherlands, in the province of Zeeland, in the middle of Zeeuws-Vlaanderen (on the southern shore of the Westerschelde estuary, at the end of the Westerschelde Tunnel).
The municipality comprises also the following towns, villages and townships: Axel, Biervliet, Hoek, Koewacht, Overslag, Philippine, Sas van Gent, Sluiskil, Spui, Westdorpe, Zaamslag, Zandstraat, Zuiddorpe.
First mentioned in 1325, Terneuzen was a strategically located port on the waterways to Ghent, in present-day Belgium. Nowadays the Ghent-Terneuzen Canal is still an important shipping route. [1]
Terneuzen was once home of the legendary Flying Dutchman, Van der Decken, a captain who cursed God and was condemned to sail the seas forever, as described in the Frederick Marryat novel The Phantom Ship and the Richard Wagner opera.
![[1]](http://www.binnenvaart.be/pictures/kaarten/waterwegen/21merwede.gif){kind=link}