De Pinte

De Pinte (Dutch pronunciation: [də ˈpɪntə]) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders. Before its existence as an independent municipality in 1868, De Pinte was a part of Nazareth. The municipality comprises the towns of De Pinte proper and Zevergem. On January 1, 2006, De Pinte had a total population of 10,235. The total area is 17.98 km² which gives a population density of 569 inhabitants per km².

History

The name of the municipality is issued from an inn, which was called "Het Pijntken", which was situated in the actual Pintestraat 69, and which was firstly used as the name of the municipality when it became independent of Nazareth on 2. June 1868 and it was called 'Little Nazareth" at that time. At the end of the 19th century many horticultural companies came in this area and further on in the 20th century, they were all parceled out. De Pinte became also a train station between Ghent and Kortrijk (as from 1839) and Ghent-Oudenaarde (as from 1857). The territory remained a vast stretch of moorland of the Abbey of Ghent Saint-Peter, which was called Scheldevelde. As from the 13th century, there was in the east of the current village center, a mining farm located, in which activities started from the 18th century with a systematic exploration. On the Ferrari-map from the 1770s, the place appears as a rural area with scattered hamlets and country estates. In the place of the current center, the map still shows the hamlet Pintestraete. In 1791 there was already a first request for the establishment of an auxiliary church. Its construction was started, but was soon stopped due to the French occupation.