The Zijlpoort is a city gate in Leiden, South Holland, Netherlands.
The gate was built in 1667 in a classicist style[1] according to a design by the Leiden architect Willem van der Helm and features sculpture by Rombout Verhulst. The bell was cast by Hemony in 1668. Because the gate had to connect to both the city wall and the bridge in front of it, the building has the shape of a parallelogram. The Morspoort and the Zijlpoort are the only two remaining of the original eight gates. The Oude Rijn flows into the city of Leiden along the Zijlpoort from the nearby river Zijl. The Oude Zijlpoort, the predecessor of the Zijlpoort, stood 300 meters further west on Haarlemmerstraat, between Koestraat and Havenplein; there was the old city wall.
Over time, the Zijlpoort, and in particular the room above the passage, has fulfilled various functions: in the early eighteenth century the rhetoricians met there, from 1736 onwards a school for poor children was established there, and in the nineteenth century it was used as city property. stored.
In the last quarter of the twentieth century, the Zijlpoort was extensively renovated twice. During the last renovation, in the 1990s, supporting structures were installed on both sides of the gate. Since 1999, a catering facility has been located in one of these structures.
The cemetery of the same name has been located next to the Zijlpoort since 1828.
The gate has been a national monument since 1968.[2]