It goes without saying that the image of a place, justly or not, to a large extent is indicated by just one or a few buildings, think of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Colosseum in Rome and the Burj Khalifa in Dubai or, closer to home, the Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam and St. John's Cathedral in Den Bosch. In Bergen op Zoom one really can't get round the mediaval complex with its mighty crow-stepped gables and tower of Markiezenhof (the court of the Marquis).
Yet, the nature of a town or city, let's say its soul, often hides in what doesn't leap to the eye, on the contrary. Think of fine wrinkles in a face which attracts attention because of a big nose or a beard. These inconspicuous features, the wrinkles of a town, don't flaunt on restored squares or in glittering shopping centres. No, one discovers them in back streets, little visited neighborhoods, in a cul-de-sac; in backwaters which didn't share the developments of a place or, in case they did, are considered too ugly or boring to fit the desired image.
Bergen op Zoom still has many of those places which have not been commercialized. One example is the dead end alley Pakhuisstraat in the former harbor district. 'Pakhuis' means warehouse or repository. This function is still visible as the picture below shows.
Other objects are left to guesswork. Well, any incentive of the phantasy makes sure a place is not dead even if all activities seam to have vanished.
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