Melle

Geschiedenis

Melle is a municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the villages of Gontrode and Melle proper. On January 1, 2011, Melle had a total population of 10,873. The total area is 15.21 km² which gives a population density of 715 inhabitants per km².Melle is already being mentioned in documents of the year 830, although the archeological findings prove the region was inhabited long before that date.The name Melle has two possible meanings: the Celtic word Melina means "Brown Water", on the other side the prehistoric name Melinos means "Honey Yellow".The village Melle consists of three regions: Melle-Centre, Melle-Vogelhoek and Gontrode (since the fusion in 1976).One of its famous products is the Delirium Tremens beer, bottled by the Huyghe brewery. This beer is exported worldwide and has been elected as "Best beer in the world" in 1998 at the World Beer Championships in Chicago, Illinois, USA.Miss Belgium 2000, Joke Van De Velde grew up and went to highschool in Melle.The College van de paters Jozefieten, founded in 1837 by canon Constant Van Crombrugghe is known all around the country. At this school different Belgian and international celebrities went to school (e.g. Cédric Van Brantegem (runner), a brother of Princess Mathilde,...). This was the first school in Belgium where a commercial science and an industrial science course were offered. An Irish student brought along a football in 1863. This was the first football to reach the European continent.