Bredevoort
Bastion Treurniet (‘Grieve Not’), or Kruittoren (Powder Tower) in common parlance, is a national monument (rijksmonument) and was one of the six bastions of Bredevoort. It is situated to the north of the town, on what is now the Kruittorenstraat opposite the community centre Ons Huis, and formed part of the Bredevoort fortifications.
At this location, a rise in the landscape can still be seen today; this was the onderwal (lower rampart) of the bastion. Behind it lay an eight-metre-high hollow bastion, equipped with three cavaliers (katten) in each corner. A powder magazine (kruithuis) for the garrison stood upon the terreplein. The gorge (keel), or entrance to the bastion, was situated just past the junction of Kruittorenstraat and ’t Zand.
The powder tower of Bredevoort Castle must also have stood at this site. The curtain wall (courtine) of the main rampart ran behind the houses towards Sint Bernardus. In 2010, an artwork was placed on the remnants of the lower rampart in the form of steel ribs that represent its original profile.
Reconstruction
The image shows a reconstruction of Bastion Treurniet. It illustrates the bastion’s position relative to the houses that stand there today. The lower rampart situated in front of the bastion is also visible. The section on the right is the part that remains today as a shapeless mound.
The terreplein is now the small meadow on Kruittorenstraat. The powder magazine would once have stood on the spot now occupied by the Bredevoort Schittert building. The section of the moat shown in the reconstruction still exists today.
