Visible features of a medieval defence system

Back in the middle ages, Gembloux was located at the meeting point of two rival territories, the dukedom of Brabant, to which the market town belonged, and the earldom of Namur. Frederick of Hohenstaufen, who later became the German emperor Barbarossa (red beard), agreed in 1152 to allow the municipality to surround itself with walls. However, the foundations of earlier fortifications were discovered at the foot of the belfry. The walls were roughly 1 km long and covered an area of some 7 ha, three of which were earmarked for the old Benedictine abbey. These ramparts with their four gates were flanked by several towers and lined ditches. The Gembloux defence system was completed with the towers of the abbey church and the parish church, which rose up on the edge of the rocky spur where the market town's historical centre was located. The tower of the St. Sauveur parish church – which is now the belfry – was raised over the course of time for lookout and defence purposes. What remains of these ramparts nowadays are two towers and the side of the wall that flanked the porte d’En-Haut, one of the four gateways created in these fortifications. After the St. Sauveur church was deconsecrated in the early 19th century, the tower was retained as a belfry.