The Koepoort or Westerpoort is a city gate in

Enkhuizen Enkhuizen () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia. History Enkhuizen, like Hoorn and Amsterdam, was one of the harbor-towns of the VOC, from where overseas trade wi ...

. The gate used to be the main western entrance of Enkhuizen and is a part of the old

fortifications A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

of the city.

Description

Between 1590 and 1593 Enkhuizen was extended toward the west. A new

city wall A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...

was built with a

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

and seven

bastion A bastion or bulwark is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fi ...

s. At the Koepoort's current location, a wooden gate and a drawbridge were built. Half a century later plans were made for a stone gate building. The Koepoort's architect is probably

Jacob van Campen Jacob van Campen (2 February 1596 - 13 September 1657) was a Dutch artist and architect of the Dutch Golden Age, Golden Age. Life He was born into a wealthy family at Haarlem, and spent his youth in his home town. Being of noble birth and wit ...

. In 1649 the foundation stone was installed, but it soon turned out that there was no sufficient supply of the Bentheimer sandstone that was used in the design. The gate was finished provisionally in 1654. Traffic was guided through the gate. Because of a paved road towards

Hoorn Hoorn () is a city and municipality in the northwest of the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is the largest town and the traditional capital of the region of West Friesland. Hoorn is located on the Markermeer, 20 kilometers ( ...

that was made in 1672, a big chunk of all the city's traffic came in through the gate. The Koepoort soon began to decay because of lacking maintenance. In 1730 the gate was restored and a

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, from ...

was added. In 1793 a clockwork was placed inside the cupola. Since 1930, the traffic is guided around the gate. The main street of Enkhuizen, the Westerstraat, ends at the Koepoort and continues as Westeinde. In 1987 a statue of the so called "Stedemaagd" was placed at the city side of the gate. The statue was made by Han Sterk. File:Koepoort achterzijde Enkhuizen.jpg, Koepoort seen from the outer side (western side) File:Koepoort stedemaagd Enkhuizen.jpg, The "Stedemaagd" of Enkhuizen at the Koepoort File:Koepoort met Koepoortsbrug Enkhuizen.jpg, Koepoort seen from the Northern side {{Rijksmonument, 464799 Buildings of the Dutch Golden Age Baroque architecture in the Netherlands