Archaeological site Weert - fortified city Weert

You are now on the spot where the Maaspoort or Meuse gate once stood: one of the 6 gates to the main streets of the Weerter city centre and they all led to the market.
We are going back to the fortified city in 1414 ...
Weert is littered with canals and ramparts and walls were erected to keep out enemies. The gates were necessary so you could get in! The Maaspoort was one of those gates.
In 1481 the city canals were filled with water from the Abeek, the lifeline of Weert and it completed the picture.
In the Middle Ages, citizens had to protect themselves. The archers' guilds, a kind of civilian guards, armed with crossbows or firearms, ensured the safety of the bourgeoisie.
Then the Eighty Year War starts, and the fortifications will play a political role. Garrisons are stationed in Nijenborgh Castle. The Lords of Weert rule from this moated castle.
The tactics of warfare change in the same time; with new weapons, substantial breaches are made in the fortress walls. And so the Spanish troops make their entrance in 1579. They hang the captured soldiers in the windows of the castle. In 2018, during an excavation near the Nijenborgh castle's tithe barn, the bodies of four soldiers from that time were found. An interesting cold case that is being further investigated.
In the middle of the 19th century all work on fortifications were suspended by order of King William III.
They no longer offer protection. And that changes the cityscape of Weert;
the walls and the gates are demolished, the canals filled in and converted into streets.
But the map of Weert is still the same as it was during the Middle Ages.
Cannon runs today mark the six former city gates of the fortified city of Weert. An illustrious time!

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NOTE: The location of the tile is on the corner Emmasingel / Maasstraat almost in front of the door of Café De Tramhalt.

TIP: This location is part of the archaeological experience route on the island of Weert and Weert archaelogical cycle route the island and its spheres.   


Visit other Archeo route Limburg locations