Naarden dates from 1350 and is one of the few fortified towns in the Netherlands that has remained mostly intact. Naarden is the only fortified town in Europe with a double set of walls and moats. This former capital of the Gooi region was strategically placed on a sand ridge between the former Zuiderzee and the Naarder Lake and protected Amsterdam against attacks from the East. Over the centuries Naarden has experienced many attacks: the massacre of 1572 where almost the entire population was exterminated by the Spaniards, the capture by the French in 1672, the siege and liberation by Stadholder William III and the last siege in 1813, where Napoleon’s French troops were expelled from the fortress.

The Dutch Fortress Museum has its housing in and on bastion Turfpoort (the Peat Gate) since 1955. A bastion is a pentagonal fortification of the main wall. Naarden is a star shaped fortified town because of six of these bastions.

The Dutch Fortress Museum in Naarden is the ideal trip for the whole family; children, adult and seniors. It offers a lot of activities; gun shooting, inundation line golf, boat tours and quests for young people. A visit to remember; exciting and educational!