Damme is a town in West Flanders, Belgium with 10,907 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2016). With its cozy town center, it attracts many tourists when visiting Bruges or the Belgian North Sea coast as an excursion destination.
From the middle of the 11th century, the Wadden Sea off Bruges increasingly silted up and the place lost direct access to the sea. After a flood at the beginning of the 12th century, a dike was built. Behind the Dwarsdam was the place that was granted city rights in 1169. In the Middle Ages, Damme was at times the outer port of Bruges. On July 3, 1468, the Duke of Burgundy, Charles the Bold, and Margaret of York married in Damme. Like Bruges, Damme lost its importance when the Zwin bay was silted up towards the end of the Middle Ages. The writer Charles de Coster had La Légende de Thyl Ulenspiegel (see also Till Eulenspiegel) set in Damme in the 19th century, which was the basis for Damme today to present itself as a “book village”. In addition to restaurants and hotels, there are numerous bookstores and a regular book market.
Source = Wikipedia