dinsdag 4 februari 2014

Water gate

The Waterpoort  is a water gate, a gate in a defensive wall that connects a city to a waterway. It is situated in Sneek a little city in the province Friesland in the north of the country.
In the 15th and 16th century, a defensive wall had been built around Sneek. The city lay on the important trade route between Leeuwarden and Stavoren, from which the rich western parts of the Netherlands (now North Holland and South Holland) could be reached. To facilitate this trade, a new harbour called the "Kolk" was built to the southwest of the city and in 1613 the Waterpoort was erected to connect city and harbour. It formed part of the city walls, but when large parts of these were demolished in the early 18th century, it was decided to leave the Waterpoort intact.

The backside looks beautiful, like an open castle.

From the inside you had a look at the water tower built in 1908 and 44 metres high.

A look at the gate seen from the city canal.

14 opmerkingen:

  1. This is so beautiful. Thank goodness that they saved it.

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  2. I would like to make an apartment in either tower - WOW - I sure would enjoy the view. Great history and beautiful photos :)

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  3. All that we have here in America to compare that with is Disneyland. You get to live in History!

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  4. Dearest Marianne,
    The Netherlands is so rich in history and such buildings are beautiful landmarks forever. WISH we would have more of that here in the USA. Saint Augustine in Florida is the oldest city in the USA and has some 16th century buildings. Canada of course has very old buildings as well in Qúebec City where e.g. the oldest North American restaurant is.
    Hugs to you,
    Mariette

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  5. Seeing the water gate, I'm thinking that the defensive wall must have been quite impressive. So glad this much was saved for posterity.

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  6. Cool that they left this beautiful gate that reminds us of the past.

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  7. Interessante geschiedenis van zo'n prachtig bouwwerk.

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  8. beautiful! have a good new week:-)

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  9. J'adore the third photo Marianne, love the arches in all the shots. Thank goodness this structure is protected for future generations to admire..

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  10. Prachtige serie over Sneek. Mijn vrouw en ik hebben vaak door Sneek gelopen (en ook nog gevaard) toen we op vakantie waren (vakantie huis gehuurd in Oudemirdum - Sept. 2008). Beautiful memories !

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