Gunpowder Tower (Poertoren)

The Poertoren stands as a heavy, circular brick bastion along the Minnewater, easily identified by its thick, windowless walls and the conical roof that tapers toward the sky. Built in fourteen hundred and one, it served as the primary storage facility for the city’s gunpowder supply. While the rest of the medieval fortifications were dismantled over centuries, this tower remained because the town elders feared the explosive contents inside. They moved the powder to a more isolated location before eventually repurposing the stone chamber.