Farmers' Revolt Square (Diest)

The Boerenkrijgplein is located at the fortification for the petrol gate. This fortification is a pentagonal peninsula surrounded by a moat. In fortification terms, we refer to it as a ravelin. This ravelin defended the road to Schaffen and later possibly the railway. It had a length of 125 meters. A ravelin is a typical Vauban element in fortifications. It allowed defenders to come ‘outside’ the walls and from there fire at the enemy who wanted to approach the walls on its left and right sides.

Between the gate and the ravelin, there is a 5-meter wide caponnière visible. This is a dry moat with a breastwork approximately 6 meters thick so that any movement of troops from the city to the ravelin and vice versa occurred out of sight of the enemy. Not only the fortress moat provided protection. In front of the fortress moat, Demer and Zwarte Beek formed a double outer moat, separated from each other by a 6-meter-wide dike.

Jan Rymenams