Starshaped fortresses in The Netherlands

When you check Google Maps you see the shapes of some cities are really great. They make me really happy!! Have you ever checked a map like that? I loved seeing a couple of starshaped cities in The Netherlands. I saw the city of Naarden Vesting at first…and then I found some more cities like Willemstad and Bourtange. They were all good for me to visit and so I went exploring them!!

The first of all of them was Naarden Vesting. The weather wasn’t that great and sunny but the city was beautiful to explore!!

Starshaped Fortresses In The Netherlands

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Naarden Vesting

When you go to the starshaped fortress of Naarden Vesting you’ll probably will come from highway A1. And if you look for it you’ll see the square tower of the church standing proud in the landscape. When you come closer you see the water surrouding the city and the high fortress wall that protected the city in the ancient times. I love to see how good these parts of the city are kept well and it still has that starshape!!

On that great fortress wall is a museum that tells you all about the history of this great city! It is really worth the visit before exploring the city and its surroundings so you’ll know a bit more about the history and its origine.

Tip: A different way of exploring the starshaped fortress is from the water

You can rent a canoe and go around Naarden Vesting!!

I can really recomment you to go to Naarden Vesting for a day!! They call it the Pearl of ‘Het Gooi’.  There is a lot of history to be seen of The Netherlands and the time of the 80 years’ war. But the city has a great shopping centre with small unique shops and a lot of art to be seen and restaurants to have some culinairy specials.

Starshaped fortresses in The Netherlands

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Bourtange

Higher situated in The Netherlands, close to the German border and up in the province Groningen we’ll find the starshaped fortress of Bourtange. I visited on a great summer day and enjoyed this city to the max by walking the fortress wall.

Starshaped Fortressses

Bourtange

Can you imagine going to the ‘toilet’ in there? There was a hole above the water, the water that surrounded the city.. 🙂

After walking around on the fortress wall I came back at the mill.

The mill is situated just near the entrance of Bourtange.

It was nice and busy on the central square, you can sit down on several terraces and enjoy a cup of coffee and a Dutch delicacy.

It is also a great little city to explore in a afternoon. Before you enter the city there is a museum. If you have some extra time after visiting Bourtange… I love the fact that there are routes you can walk from there. Unfortunately only available in Dutch but I do share it here, maybe you can gt the map and still walk it! Check: Groninger Landschap. It’s a route of8 km and so would take you some 2 hours.

Starshaped Fortresses in The Netherlands

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Willemstad

And the last one I’ll show you is the great starshaped fortress all the way down to Belgium in the province of Brabant: Willemstad. I accidently bumped into it when I came back from Belgium, Brugge and was on a camper weekend. I am really happy to have stopped the camper to explore this great bucketlist item of mine!!

Because I was with my dads camper I had a bicycle with me. So parking the camper outside the city and climbing on my bike to explore this little beauty of a starshaped fortress. First of all I went around the city on the fortress wall by bicycle. You’ll get a great view on the city and a feeling on how big, or small it is. But what better way to go on that wall to see that shape, that starshape of this fortress. You’ll see it on the water and the walls, I really love seeing those old shapes!! People ages ago were standing there too….nowhere else I feel it that close to me..

The Harbour

The startingpoint of a visit to the Starshaped Fortress of Willemstad

On every corner of the wall is a bastion. Most of these bastions have strategic lookouts and still in this time they are visible and to be visited!! These bastions have names of the provinces of The Netherlands… Most of the times they paid for it, they were the sponsors of the bastion.

The Starshaped Fortresses of The Netherlands

Did you know that there are a lot of fortresses in this part of The Netherlands and easy to be visited fromWillemstad? If you have some more time they need a visit!! Check this site for more inspiration:  Uit in Willemstad. Unfortunately not in English available.

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If you are in this area of The Netherlands I do have a great tip. This place you probably know!! I can tell you a secret…a lotof the Dutch citizins doesn’t know it, it is more famous abroad. And that is so strange because it is a beautiful place!! It is like you know Holland … Like in the Postcards!! : Kinderdijk

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I hope I inspired you to go visit The Netherlands in other places then Amsterdam and the Keukenhof 🙂 The Netherlands has a great history and those starshaped fortresses is a part of it that is beautiful and good maintained. And on a great sunny day it is just great to go sit on a terrace and shop a little too 🙂

If you like these starshaped fortresses would you care to share them too for others? You would make me happy by doing so 🙂

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Want to see more about The Netherlands

Intertidal Walk Though the Waddensea – The Netherlands

3 ideas for walking in Deventer

Along the Great Mills of Leiden

Visit the Prehistoric Dolmens in Drenthe

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I hope you Love your Life and make your World Great!!