Namur, Porte de/Naamsepoort

   The gate located on the southeastern side of the second town wall, the porte de Namur was distinguished by large military fortifications. It is believed that the duke of Alba used the bastion here as a prison for political prisoners and archives were stored here under Alessandro Farnese, duke of Parma. About 1670, the Bastion du Roi ("king's bastion") was built on the site now occupied by the Champs de Mars skyscraper. The fortifications were partly demolished in 1784. In 1789, whimsical revolutionaries during the Brabant Revolution suspended from the worm-eaten gate a sign inscribed: "House for Rent." Dutch troops entered the city via the gate on 23 September 1830. In 1836, pavilions for collection of tolls were built on the site. The area today comprises part of the upper town's shopping district. The name designates the intersection of rue de Namur and the inner ring road; a metro stop is also called the porte de Namur.