Helpoort

Maastricht


This rough-cut-stone tower-gateway dating from 1229 dominates the most impressive of several fragmentary sections of medieval city wall. You can look inside but the main charm is snapping a picture of the southern exterior, a red box-window sitting above a tunnel-passage that photogenically frames the lantern-lit old houses of Sint Bernardusstraat. The structure is claimed to be the oldest surviving town gate in the Netherlands.