Putruwiel: A Medieval Fortified Stone House in Utrecht
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.1
- Popularity
- Medium
- Country
- Netherlands
- Primary era
- Medieval
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- Holy Roman Empire
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page5 sections
History
Putruwiel is a medieval fortified stone house in Utrecht, Netherlands, whose construction is dated broadly between 1175 and 1350. It was among the city’s earliest stone houses and stood near Stathe, Utrecht’s historic trading district. The name Putruwiel derives from the medieval couple Jacob van Putte and Oedele van Ruwiel.
Utrecht played only a limited part in the Hanseatic League, a medieval and early-modern commercial association of trading towns and merchant communities in northern Europe. For several years in the mid-fifteenth century, however, a Hanseatic office, serving as a local commercial representation and trading establishment, operated in Putruwiel. The building was extensively altered over the centuries, including repeated changes to its front facade. Putruwiel has been a Rijksmonument, a legally protected national heritage monument in the Netherlands, since 1967 under monument number 31050.
Remains
Putruwiel survives as a tower-house type of fortified urban residence. Its historic fabric includes a front facade that extends across two storey heights, together with preserved lower-level structural elements.
Facade and lower structure
False facade
The front was given a false facade, a frontage added or extended to create a particular external appearance that may not directly match the building’s underlying structure. This facade later underwent several changes of form.
Basement and quay cellar
The building retains a basement and a quay cellar. A quay cellar opens onto the lower-level quayside of a canal or riverfront street and served as a characteristic storage space in Utrecht’s historic canal district.
