Location Hoog Catharijne - shopping mall

Hoog Catharijne is the only shopping centre in the Netherlands where you can go underneath by boat. Above the water, in the middle, is the Stadskamer or City Room located: a large glass hall. Right through the length of the glass City Room you can see the water on both sides coming into view from underneath the hall. You can also look down through the glass of the large glass podiums in the floor of the Stadskamer. If you peer through the glass of the middle stage, you will discover protruding above the water, the brick remains of one of the corner towers of the disappeared Vredenburg castle. These remains used to be the south-western bastion to be exact, once called the 'Spanjaardsgat'. These brick remains are located on top of one of the parking garages of Hoog Catharijne, 5 levels deep. The garage is hidden under the water and continues under the Vredenburg Square.

That vanished Vredenburg Castle was built in the 16th century, but was soon largely demolished by the citizens of Utrecht. Something with Spaniards and the castle as a fortress of oppression… You can look that up. And later even more remains were demolished and even more so in the last century. So now only bits of the foundations are left. In addition to the southwest tower, more remains of Vredenburg Castle can be seen in other places: inside the parking garage itself, for example, you will find the remains of the main gate. You can enter the garage as a pedestrian from the City Room via the elevator and escalator to the first basement floor. In the basement of another building, a bit further on at Vredenburg, where the Starbucks, and shops the Zara and the Sting are also located, you will find -under those shops- in the Vredenburg bicycle parking, the remains of the east wall and the northeast tower. Nice to have a look at too.