The Misterpoort City Gate

De Misterpoort is een voormalige stadspoort in Bredevoort. De poort maakte deel uit van de vestingwerken van Bredevoort. Tegenwoordig herinnert een café-restaurant met deze naam nog aan de oude stadspoort, die haar naam weer dankt aan de weg naar buurtschap Miste. In een poortwachtersreglement uit 1726 werd de poort Munsterspoort genoemd.

Following the Siege of Bredevoort in 1606, work began in late March on the construction of fortifications designed by the urban planner Adriaen Anthonisz van Alcmaer. During this process, the medieval city walls and their gates disappeared. The town was equipped with bastions and ravelins, and the Misterpoort was replaced by a brick structure set within the rampart. The name ‘Misterpoort’, however, remained.

In 1704 werden er nog verbeteringen aangebracht aan zowel de Misterpoort, als aan de tegenoverliggende Aalterpoort volgens de nieuwste inzichten van die tijd van Menno van Coehoorn.

In 1727, two new counterscarps were constructed in front of both city gates, a project that took two years to complete. In 1755, the fortifications were decommissioned by the Council of State and transferred to the civil authorities. Some time later, in 1784, a government inspection of the fortifications revealed that citizens had excavated more than half of the ramparts down to ground level—with the exception of two bastions—and had demolished the gates and bridges. Plans were drawn up to restore the fortifications and add three lunettes, but these were never carried out.

Archeology

Excavations took place at the site in 1963 and 1979. In 1963, the State Service for Archaeological Heritage (ROB) was present and reported: “The foundation remnants were found to have been constructed using brick blind arches over the fill of a moat. On the inner side (the town side) of the moat, the remains of exceptionally heavy, vertically buried oak posts were found within the embankments.”

During the 1979 excavations, a wall with a thickness of 1.70 metres, featuring transverse foundations, was discovered and quickly demolished. However, the remains were measured and photographed by the newly established local ADW Archaeological Working Group. These findings have raised more questions than answers, and it remains difficult to conclude which remnants date from which specific period.

Waarschijnlijk is het enige zichtbare overblijfsel van de stadspoort bewaard gebleven in de hal van de Sint-Georgiuskerk. Het betreft hier een gevelsteen met een afbeelding van het schutspatroon van Bredevoort, St. Joris en de draak.