City walls of Le Quesnoy

The city walls of Le Quesnoy form a complete ring around the town with five arrow-shaped bastions, moats, and defensive structures built in multiple stone and earth layers. The system stretches about 3 kilometers and shows different construction phases from medieval to later fortification techniques.

The fortification began around 1150 under Count Beauduin IV of Hainaut and underwent major modernization in 1527 when Spanish troops added new defensive elements. These two phases shape the structure you see today.

The walls show how residents defended their home over centuries and how defensive thinking evolved over time. Walking along them today, you notice how older rounded towers stand next to later angular bastions.

You can walk the complete circuit on foot; the easiest access is near the train station through the former Flamengrie gate. The preserved paths are wide and easy to explore, though some sections have slopes.

The fortification system includes three connected water pools that could be deliberately flooded to create barriers beyond the walls as an extra defense layer. These water features were a sophisticated part of the defensive strategy still visible today.