Landsfort Herle

Landsfort Herle was a fortification with a moat in the centre of Heerlen, Netherlands (roughly the current Pancratiusplein). It was probably built by the counts of Ahr-Hochstaden (also referred to as Heren van Are) The name Landsfort (‘fort of the land’) was introduced in the 19th century, based on the fact that the fortification falls under the responsibility of the land. The fort can more accurately be classified as a so called fortress church (German: Kirchenburg); a (fortified) church surrounded by a curtain wall. Landsfort Herle appears to be the only Kirchenburg in the Netherlands (not to be confused with Wehrkirchen or fortified churches, which are more numerous, but lack the curtain wall). In the 13th century Heerlen and landsfort Herle, came into the possession of the Dukes of Brabant. The Landsfort was (re)built by the Dukes of Brabant in 1244.

The curtain wall is believed to be one of the oldest still recognisable in the Netherlands, part of it has been excavated.

A model of the fort was constructed based on a map from 1787, which was found during extensive restorations to the Pancratiuskerk in the 1960s. The fort had three gates and two towers; the belfry of the church and the Schelmentoren, both with 2 metre thick walls.

Texte adapté de « Landsfort Herle » de la Wikipédia en anglais, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Landsfort Herle occupe la 4 951e place sur 5 793 au classement de renommée de cet atlas et le 83e rang des 124 que l’atlas recense aux Pays-Bas. Fondé en 1244, il est plus ancien que 76 % des monuments datés de l’atlas — l’un des 519 monuments de l’atlas fondés au XIIIe siècle. Voyez comment les Pays-Bas se comparent dans les statistiques des châteaux.

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