Skull on the Smedenpoort - Brugge, Belgium
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member T-Team!
N 51° 12.276 E 003° 12.758
31U E 514854 N 5672598
A single skull hangs on the Smedenpoort in Brugge. Looks to have been here for quite a while.
Waymark Code: WM18HZ2
Location: West-Vlaanderen, Belgium
Date Posted: 08/08/2023
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member QuesterMark
Views: 3

"A bronze skull in memory of an event from 1691 hangs on the Smedenpoort . In that year, the Bruges sailor Jacob Wyndekens revealed a conspiracy. A certain François van der Straeten, a native of Eeklo , had arranged with a small group of French soldiers to smuggle them into the city through the Smedenpoort at night. They would hide in barracks near the Water House . Early in the morning they would overpower the gatekeepers, open the gate and give free rein to a large French army that was in ambush in the Tillegembos .found. That same day, the 26th of June of the year 1691, the traitor François van der Straeten was hanged, then his head was cut off and that head was placed on an iron pin on the Smedenpoort. Meanwhile, the skull was replaced by a bronze one."
source: (visit link)
Type: Local Heroes and Villans

Referenced in (list books, websites and other media): Not listed

Additional Coordinates: Not Listed

Website Reference: Not listed

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chrissyml visited Skull on the Smedenpoort - Brugge, Belgium 12/23/2019 chrissyml visited it