The Smedenpoort, or Smiths' Gate, is a soft yellow brick structure that marks the western entrance to the historic center of Bruges. Built in thirteen sixty-seven upon the remains of an earlier gate dating to twelve ninety-seven, it is one…
Bruges City Ramparts Walk
This walk follows the path of the medieval city walls to show you Bruges's surviving defense gates, historic windmills, and fortifications.
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1. Smedenpoort
2. Ezelpoort
The Ezelpoort, or Donkey’s Gate, exists as a small fortified structure isolated by the waters of the ring canal. It ranks as one of only four medieval city gates surviving in Bruges. Construction began in twelve ninety-seven as part of the…
3. Kruispoort gate
The Kruispoort, or Cross Gate, features two heavy towers joined by a narrow passageway, flanked by smaller octagonal turrets. It survives as a remnant of the city’s second defensive wall, first constructed between twelve ninety-seven and…
4. Sint-Janshuismolen
The Sint-Janshuismolen is a post mill, a wooden structure built to rotate around a massive central post so its sails can catch the shifting wind. It rises from a grassy mound along the Kruisvest, the eastern stretch of the old city…
5. Gentpoort
The Gentpoort is a heavy, two-towered brick structure that marks the southeastern edge of the historic city. It is one of only four medieval city gates still standing in Bruges, remnants of a defensive circuit that once completely enclosed…
6. Gunpowder Tower (Poertoren)
The Poertoren, or Gunpowder Tower, stands as a robust, eighteen-meter-high stone structure near the Minnewater bridge. Built between thirteen ninety-eight and fourteen oh one by master mason Jan Van Oudenaarde, it functioned as a defensive…