Discover Dudzele: village centre, church and street art

Dudzele can be explored through several distinct themes: the protected village centre of the Dorpskom, the Sint-Pietersbandenkerk and its cemetery, the polder landscape of the Oostkustpolders and the street art project The Bridges. Together, they reveal the built history, agricultural landscape and art as different facets of the place. To help you get your bearings, it is useful to distinguish between the village centre, the landscape and individual cultural themes.

The protected village centre of the Dorpskom

The Dorpskom in Dudzele is designated as a protected village centre. It includes Sint-Lenardsstraat, the village square, Amaat Vynckestraat, Westkapelse Steenweg and Damse Steenweg. The protection therefore applies to an area encompassing several streets and a village square, not just a single building. This scope is important if you want to understand Dudzele’s architectural character: together, the named streets and the square make up the protected village centre.

Romanesque church and former Sint-Leonarduskerk

The Sint-Pietersbandenkerk was built in the second half of the 12th century as a Romanesque cruciform church with a crossing tower and a three-aisled basilican nave. A cruciform church has a cross-shaped floor plan; the crossing tower stands above the intersection of the nave and transept. The three-aisled nave consists of a central nave and side aisles. These terms describe different features of the building: its floor plan, the position of its tower and the layout of its main space. The church complex also includes a cemetery and the Romanesque westwork ruins of the former Sint-Leonarduskerk. Lopped lime trees mark the cemetery’s perimeter and the course of its paths.

Polder landscape and well-preserved village centres

The Oostkustpolders near Dudzele are a flat, open to semi-open agricultural landscape crossed by dikes and canals. Dudzele is also one of the settlements west of the Damse Vaart whose village centres are very well preserved and have few intrusive new buildings. These two statements refer to different scales: the Oostkustpolders describe a landscape near Dudzele, while the second statement describes the condition of the village centres in these settlements. The character of the landscape and the preservation of the built environment are thus distinct aspects.

A historic waterway connection

Historically, the Dudzeelse Watergang linked the Lisseweegse Vaart with the Eivoordebeek, creating a waterway connection to Bruges. This former water route adds another aspect of Dudzele’s history to the themes of the village centre and church architecture.

Street art and environmental themes

The street art project The Bridges also includes art in Dudzele. Its themes include rising sea levels and the preservation of nature reserves. The street art experience is free and can be explored on a walking or cycling route. The Bridges thus broadens the focus from the history of the village and its buildings to issues of sea level rise and nature conservation. When planning your trip, this offers a different thematic focus from Romanesque architecture and the historic waterway connection.

Discover more destinations: Zeebrugge, Sint-Andries, Lissewege, Sint-Kruis, Assebroek, Sint-Michiels Brugge

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