Graauw between church art and polder landscape

Graauw offers several distinct themes for a stay: sacred art, a distinctive religious history, ceramics and the polder landscape. The Church of the Assumption of Mary brings together specific artistic and historical details, while the Graauwse Kreek and the Graauw-Paal walking route represent the landscape and outdoor activities. There is also the Babo Keramiekstudio, which offers courses and workshops. If you are looking for a hotel in Graauw, these themes can help you decide what to focus on during your stay, without having to follow a set itinerary.

Church art and the story of Godelieve

The Church of the Assumption of Mary has several works of art with clear dates. Both the stained-glass windows and the Neo-Gothic high altar date from 1914. Frans de Vos painted the murals between 1915 and 1918. This gives you a short chronology for an art-historical perspective: the two furnishings from 1914 are followed by the murals from 1915 to 1918. This chronological comparison distinguishes the different art forms and makes their sequence within the church easy to follow. The tower also houses a bell that came from the church of the lost village of Namen. This adds the provenance of another historical detail to the church’s art history.

The St. Godelieve Chapel is located in the parish church of Maria Hemelvaart in Graauw. The Godelieve pilgrimage in Graauw is another facet of local religious history: it had a limited regional reach and continued until the Second World War. To the best of our knowledge, Graauw is the only place in the Netherlands with a special devotion to Godelieve. The chapel, pilgrimage and special devotion offer different points of connection if you are interested in the town’s religious history. The pilgrimage’s place in time and its limited regional reach are part of the story of this historical tradition.

Ceramics as a distinctive feature

The Babo Keramiekstudio in the Zeeuws-Vlaanderen polders “op de Graauw” offers another way to explore Graauw. The pottery studio offers courses for beginners and advanced participants. Its programme includes one-off and short ceramics workshops, as well as introductory workshops. Both experience level and format are therefore relevant when choosing an activity: you can choose between courses for beginners and advanced participants, as well as different types of workshop. In Graauw, art-historical themes and hands-on ceramics are thus separate cultural interests to explore.

Walking and the landscape

The Graauw-Paal walking route leads to the Zeedijk. On one section, walkers can walk below or on top of the sea dyke. The Zeedijk is an old sea dyke between the new polders and the Land of Saefthinge. The route therefore offers a tangible connection to the dyke landscape; the option of walking below or on top of the dyke applies to one section of the route. Another landscape feature is the Graauwse Kreek in the Willem-Hendrikspolder near Graauw. It is a narrow, elongated creek and is considered an ideal fishing spot. You can therefore choose between two different interests: the walking route and its section along the sea dyke, or the Graauwse Kreek as a fishing spot.

Discover more destinations: Kloosterzande, Walsoorden, Vogelwaarde, Hulst, Heikant, Terhole, Hengstdijk, Lamswaarde.

Go to the main travel overview: Hulst.