De Helden

The Drommedaris is a round brick gate tower at the old harbour entrance of Enkhuizen, built in 1540 as a defence tower and city gate. It was part of the town's fortifications, and the building still stands as one of the best known landmarks of the historic centre. Near the end of World War II it was seriously damaged in a bombing raid, and the city side of the gate was left riddled with bomb fragments. The tower also carries a Hemony carillon, which sounds automatically every quarter hour and is played in the summer by the city carillonneur. The tower's use as a cultural space goes back to around 1960, when it became a student centre with a bar on the ground floor. Students slept in the old prison cells in the attic, among them Princess Beatrix, later Queen Beatrix. A café restaurant later opened on the first floor, while the space below it and the second floor were turned into a small auditorium. That room was used for concerts, theatre performances and art exhibitions, and an elevator now makes the upper floors accessible to disabled visitors. Today the Drommedaris works purely as a cultural centre rather than a defensive or residential building. Its programme covers music, theatre, cabaret, film screenings and exhibitions. The setting is the main draw: a 16th century tower with brick walls, a stage in a small auditorium and a long civic history, all within walking distance of Enkhuizen's canals, historic merchant houses and other surviving defensive structures. For concertgoers it offers a more intimate setting than most venues in the region, closer to a historic monument that happens to host live music than to a purpose built hall.