Kids love heritage - Halle Gate

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The Halle Gate

EN

Why? How?

What is it ?

Today, such walls would no longer be useful. In the Middle Ages, they had their full meaning.

At the sight of this building, you certainly notice that it was not built yesterday...

It doesn’t look like the other buildings in the surroundings, and it’s a little lonely in the middle there!

This large stone building is in fact an old gate that was part of the walls that once protected the city of Brussels.

The wall was also used to control people entering the city and to levy taxes on goods entering.

IN THE MIDDLE AGES,

major cities walls that made it possible to feel safe. In Brussels, a first enclosure was built in the 13th century and was over 4 km long.

In the 14th century, the protected area was extended by building a second enclosure. This time, it was 8 km long and between 6 and 7 metres high making it extremely difficult to penetrate!

As you probably knew, BELGIUM did not yet exist, it wasn’t until the 19th century (1830 to be precise) that the country was born. The territory

Some names have remained in today’s language to designate some of the city’s other neighbourhoods:

a series of large boulevards and tunnels that allow you to go around the city. The second wall was demolished in the early 1800s.

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the Anderlecht Gate, the Flanders Gate, the Namur Gate, and of course our Halle Gate.

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a ditch was dug; the material removed was used to form a earth embankment; and on this earth mound were built the foundations that hold the wall together; Then this wall itself was built with bricks and a stone facade; all fixed with lime.

that corresponds to present-day Belgium was divided into small parts - called DUCHY or COUNTY -, which were often in conflict

The wall had 7 large gates, all of which gave access to the city.

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If you drive through Brussels, you can follow the lines of where the old wall stood, by taking what is called the «petite ceinture» (inner ring road),

The construction technique was quite simple:

with each other. LOCAL LORDS were obliged to protect their territory and its inhabitants.

Did you know?

The doors were open during the day and closed at night. A bell announced the closing of the gate.

«Clochards» (from the French word ‘cloche’, meaning bell) or tramps, were those who were forced to spend the night outside the city because they came back too late and missed the bell!

If they wanted to enter the city, they had to cross a bridge, a wooden drawbridge — these two bridges make it possible to cross the ditch mentioned above, which has filled with water thanks to a river! — a large metal grid gate, a gigantic wooden door and finally a 4 m wide passage!

www.portedehal.be www.hallepoortmuseum.be

Currently, the Halle Gate currently houses a museum that explains the history of the second wall. Go visit it to learn more!

At times in history, during quieter periods, the huge halls of the Halle Gate served as es immenses salles de la porte de Hal servent : • a warehouse for grain; • a Protestant temple; • or a prison!

Nowadays, it would no longer make sense to build a wall on the borders of our territory.

Airborne military forces make these defensive constructions obsolete. In addition, it is possible to move more freely from one area to another, even if there is more control of the movement of people and goods.

What’s more, for some time now, the notions of national borders have been disappearing, at least in Europe...

www.visit.brussels/kids