Werk aan de Hoofddijk
Werk aan de Hoofddijk stands east of Utrecht as a former military fort within the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie. Built between 1877 and 1879, it guarded the raised Hoofddijk access route above possible floodwaters.
A wet moat surrounds the compact grounds, where brick Barracks A has two storeys, earth-covered walls and heavy vaults. A tunnel connects the barracks with Remise B, a protected gun emplacement and ammunition depot. Three gun emplacements once supported nearby Forts Rijnauwen and Voordorp.
Since 1963, Utrecht University has combined the fort with botanical gardens holding plants from around the world. Former gun positions create the height differences for the Netherlands’ largest rock garden. Geophysical and paleomagnetic research now occupies the historic fort, which is protected as a national heritage monument.
- City
- Utrecht
- Content updated
Take this page with you
The myTuur app is free, and once you are standing at a spot its story starts by itself.
Spots like this one are the stops myTuur strings into tours through Utrecht. In the app, each story begins where you stand: walk up to a spot and it starts, read it on screen or listen as you go, then follow the route to the next one.
What is myTuur?
myTuur is a free city-guide app. Its tours are built from spots, and each spot carries a story that starts when you get there, to read or to listen to as you like.