The story
Welcome to the Varkensmarkt. If you take a moment to look around, you will see one of Amersfoort’s most vibrant and beloved squares, usually filled with the hum of conversation from the outdoor terraces and the clink of glasses. But as the name suggests—Varkensmarkt, or Pig Market—this place was not always quite so refined.
For centuries, this was a place of mud, noise, and the earthy smell of livestock brought in from the surrounding countryside. However, the real secret of this square is not what is happening on the surface today; it is the hidden world that lies directly beneath your feet. In the late 1990s, when the city began a major renovation of this area, archaeologists pulled back the layers of modern pavement and discovered something truly remarkable.
Buried just a few meters down were the massive, silent foundations of the very first city wall of Amersfoort, dating all the way back to the year thirteen hundred. Imagine, as you walk across these contemporary stones, you are hovering over the literal birthplace of the city’s medieval defenses. Specifically, the excavators found the remains of the Kamperbuitenpoort, a formidable gatehouse that once controlled the flow of people and goods into the heart of the city.
It was not just a pile of old rocks. They found perfectly preserved wooden foundation piles that had been sitting in the damp, oxygen-free soil for seven hundred years. These were heavy oak beams that once supported the weight of a massive stone tower.
When you look toward the direction of the Onze Lieve Vrouwetoren, the famous Tall John tower nearby, try to picture the heavy stone wall extending right through where you are standing, cutting off the secure inner city from the wild, marshy lands that lay beyond. The Varkensmarkt eventually outgrew its defensive purpose as the city expanded and a second, larger wall was built further out. By the sixteenth century, the old gates were being dismantled or incorporated into new houses, and the space was cleared to make room for commerce.
Farmers would drive their pigs through the newer outer gates to this very spot to sell them to local butchers and merchants. The transition from a fortress to a marketplace mirrors the story of Amersfoort itself, moving from a place of isolation and protection to a place of trade and connection. As you continue your walk, look for the subtle markers in the paving that trace the outline of the old gate.
It is a silent, stony reminder that the Amersfoort we see today is just the latest chapter in a story that goes deep into the earth. Every step you take on the Varkensmarkt is a step over seven centuries of history, resting quietly in the dark, waiting for the curious to stop and listen.