Hulst: a walk along the ramparts of the fortified town
The restored town ramparts, nine bastions and three gates form a readable route around the historic core.
According to the local tourist information point, the town ramparts of Hulst are about 3.5 kilometres long and fully restored. Nine bastions surround the town. Anyone who wants to see the fortress on foot can, according to the same source, walk all the way round in about an hour.
The register description on Monumenten.nl dates the defensive system from 1618 to 1621 and calls it still complete. Only three passages through the rampart are mentioned: the Bagijne Poort, the Dubbele Poort and the Gentse Poort. As a result the structure of the fortress around the town remains recognisable.
The tourist page describes wide, paved paths on the ramparts and also calls them easily accessible for wheelchair users. That is information from the manager of the visitor information; the page gives no details on individual entrances and possible steep sections.
In the twentieth century the ramparts could have disappeared. According to the information point, the municipal council decided in 1918 to demolish them, but protest meant the plan did not go ahead. The present-day walk therefore passes heritage whose preservation was not a matter of course.
Zeeland.com counts 68 national monuments in the historic core, including the town ramparts, the town hall and the Sint-Willibrordusbasiliek. The Reynaert tradition is another local story; the information point at Steenstraat 37 offers information about the fortress and the town.
The sources consulted contain no established autumn event or opening hours of the information point. Anyone who wants to walk the ramparts can plan the route as an outdoor visit and, for facilities or an indoor visit, use the venue’s current visitor information.