The first mention of the village dates from 1267, when "The Doolen" name is first mentioned. Until the
18th century the village was an island surrounded by purposfully flooded land, with the remainder,
north of the village, known as "The Drowned Land of Saeftinghe". The "Eylandt den Doel" is completely
surrounded by old seawalls. The dike encloses the hamlets of "Sweet Verge", "Saftingen", "Rapenburg" and
"Ouden Doel".The village has many historic buildings, including the oldest stone windmill of the country (1611),
and the only windmill on a sea wall.
To the north of Doel one can find the Electrabel-owned Nuclear Plant Doel with 4 reactors with a total output
of 2,8 GW delivering electricity to customers in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.

DEMOLITION

Doel is threatened with complete demolition due to the future enlargement of the harbour of Antwerp.
This has seen many people having to sell their homes to the development corporation of that enlargement.
Many historical buildings will be destroyed.
The Belgian village of Doel was reclaimed from the river Scheldt at the beginning of the 17th century.
Three-hundred years later and the village that would grow behind the sea wall is under threat. The threat
comes not from a failing dyke or an unexpectedly sudden rise in water levels, but rather from the expanding
Port of Antwerp and its insatiable need for more and more land along the Scheldt in which to grow.
Now, Doel, the last of the Belgian polder villages on the banks of the Scheldt near the North Sea, faces possible
demolition. The construction of a large dock and container terminal capable of receiving deep-sea ships is
already underway on a site immediately next to the village, and the Port Authority proposes building a second
one where the village now stands.