Damme

Damme is both a municipality and a city in the Belgian province of West Flanders, lying six kilometres northeast of Bruges. The municipality is made up of the city of Damme proper together with the villages of Hoeke, Lapscheure, Moerkerke, Oostkerke, Sijsele, Vivenkapelle and Sint-Rita. On 1 January 2006 it had a population of 10,899 people living on a total area of 89.52 square kilometres, which works out to a density of about 122 inhabitants per square kilometre, so it is a thinly settled rural municipality around a small historic town. Visitors reach Damme most commonly by the canal boat that runs in the summer high season, or all year round by bus or by bicycle along the canal path that the boat follows.