Waterpoort Sneek

We have Sneek virtually to ourselves on this calm wintry day. The lively hubbub of the summer’s water sports enthusiasts has long since died away. Now there’s a wafer-thin layer of ice, everyone wants to know if there will be an Eleven Cities Skating Race again this year. For ever since it was awarded rights as a city in 1456, Sneek has belonged to the illustrious and exclusive company of the eleven Frisian cities. The Water Gate remained in use until 1825, when the city authorities decided it was no longer necessary to block travellers under sail from entering the city at night. The twin octagonal towers and the gatekeeper’s house linking them together went on to stand symbol for the city in the public imagination. Partly thanks to the efforts of the highly successful sail maker Douwe Gaastra, who opted for the tower as his corporate logo avant la lettre