Medieval rampart

You may not see it immediately, but in the thirteenth century this was a logical place for the city wall. It ran along the gorge that was carved out by the Rollebeek and already formed a fine natural defense. The section of the wall that you see here is about 120 meters long. One of the towers of the wall has been well preserved: in Villersstraat you can see it intra muros, in the Sint-Jorissite at Cellebroersstraat 16 extra muros. The tower was discovered in 1893 during a visit to a cabaret. It had been converted into a dance hall and surrounded by the houses in Villerstraat. In 1958, it seemed doomed to demolition due to the expansion works at the Sint-Joris school in Cellebroersstraat, but city architect Rombaux took care of the restoration. Since March 30, 1962, the tower and wall have been protected. Rombaux worked in such a way that you can hardly distinguish between the original and restored parts. The upper part of the tower, starting from the base of the arrow slits on the first floor, is a modern construction. In the playground of Sint-Joris, you can see a piece of the back of the wall. It is a total of 26 meters long, but only partially visible in the corridor that leads to the classrooms on the first floor. This side was exposed during demolition work in 1884 and was cleared and restored in the period 1986-1988.

Ramm