Editing 's-Hertogenbosch (section)

=== Fortifications ===
[[File:Stadsmuurdenboschnl.jpg|thumb|left|City rampart]]
[[File:'s-Hertogenbosch - Citadellaan - Vestingwerken.jpg|thumb|[[Citadel of 's-Hertogenbosch]]]]
[[File:Boze Griet.JPG|thumb|''Boze Griet'', a forged cannon from 1510 in the ''Bastionder'']]
's-Hertogenbosch has an extensive and almost complete fifteenth-to-seventeenth-century city fortification. It was made to profit from the city's strong defensive position, lying on a sandy hill in the center of a large swamp fed by many rivers. This also caused the main ramparts to be preserved, because they were crucial in keeping out the water. In 2004 the city was awarded the title ''European Fortress City of the year''. In the years that followed it restored many of the city defenses to much of their old glory.

Apart from small sections of medieval walls, the main structure of the fortification is a late-medieval (fifteenth-century) wall. The upper sections were removed when cannon became more powerful, and polygonal [[Bastion fort|bastions]] were added, some after the conquest by the republic. Most of these have not been restored to their original height, but do maintain their brick walls. The [[Citadel of 's-Hertogenbosch|citadel]] in the north west of the city does retain its original height. Around the city itself many other fortresses can still be seen.

In the north east of the old city, the hexagonal [[gunpowder magazine]], called {{lang|nl|Kruithuis}}<ref>[http://www.teletijd.nl/kruithuis/ Teletijd.nl: Kruithuis inner court]</ref> is located close to the citadel. It is one of only a handful that still exist in the Netherlands, and was built when the city was still part of the [[Spanish Netherlands]]. It is planned to become the museum of fortress 's-Hertogenbosch. One of the bastions of the fortress now houses the mini museum [[Bastionder]]. It has been dug out in a bastion of the south side. On the inside it shows a unique wrought iron cannon, and an older bastion that was walled in by the current one.