Sassenpoort

Overijssel


The 15th-century Sassenpoort, built in 1409 at the southern end of Sassenstraat, is one of the remaining town gates and must surely be one of the country's fanciest, with its twinset of crenellated towers topped with witch-hat turrets and central, neo-Gothic clock tower.

Steps inside the gatehouse spiral up four floors, past a small local-history exhibition on the first floor, the original prison complete with trap doors to pour burning oil on prisoners on the second, and holes through which canons were once fired on the third. The top floor brings visitors face to face with the clock.


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