Fort Sint-Donaas

1705

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Fort Sint-Donaas was constructed by the Spanish in 1605, after Sluis was recaptured by the States in 1604. Together with Fort Sint-Job and Fort Sint-Frederik, this was part of a three fort configuration on the Verse Vaart and the Zoute Vaart. Both waterways were situated where the Damse Vaart is today. Fort Sint-Donaas was linked by a line with Fort Isabella in Knokke-Heist. During the War of the Spanish Succession, the fort was modified according to the plans of the States military engineer Menno van Coehoorn. It had two extra redoubts in the south and a so-called dovetail in the north. Following the construction of the Damse Vaart, Fort Sint-Donaas largely disappeared, but the dovetail is still easily recognisable. It is also the only surviving remnant of Menno van Coehoorn’s work in Flanders. Since the partial restoration in 2012, you can now imagine what it originally looked like.