Twelve gates once defended the medieval ring of walls; the Brusselpoort is the only one left. The two cylindrical towers and the round arch between them are 13th century at the base, with the small turret roofs added in 1577. The walls themselves were pulled down in the 19th century to make way for the boulevards, and the gate survives mostly because the city kept finding new uses for it — armoury, prison, water tower, museum.
It still marks the historic edge of the old town, with the inner Mechelen lanes on one side and the wider ring road on the other. The interior is rarely open to visitors, but the gate is worth the short walk from the Grote Markt simply to stand under it and imagine the lost ring of fortifications.