the gate that can keep the cars out....

…but unfortunately a road runs around it out of sight!

One of the buildings in our town that tells a bit of history. The Gevangenpoort (Prisoners gate) is the only preserved medieval city gate of Bergen op Zoom. It is even one of the oldest surviving city gates in the Netherlands.

The gate was built around 1350 as part of a stone fortress wall with a moat. Due to the expansion of the fortress in 1484, the gate came to lie within the walls of the city. As a result, it loses its function as a gateway and defense structure. Meanwhile, the gate has been a prison for some time, saving it from demolition. Until about 1925 the gate was still used as a prison.