Medieval quay wall Zakstraat
In the fall of 2018, excavations along Zak Street found remains of an ancient quay wall. This find did not come as a surprise. Old maps, pen drawings and even photographs show how a vliet ran here until the beginning of the 20th century.
The inner city of Mechelen was intersected by numerous vlietjes, until they were closed for hygienic reasons over a century ago. Among them, then, was this brook, called the Melaan (not to be confused with the street of the same name). It branches off from the Dyle at the Kruidtuin and then runs in a wide arc through the city center. At 't Veer, it rejoins the Dijle.
After a first phase of reinforcing the bank of the vliet with a wooden wall, the next phase (probably in the 14th century) was the construction of a real quay wall. The wall was built of white limestone and rested on embedded wooden posts. Upward, the wallwork continued into that of the brick walls and rear facades of the houses along today's Rik Wouters Street.
During the archaeological investigation, 3D recordings were made of the quay wall. Those recordings were then integrated into a 3D model of the building block. In addition to several building seams, you can also see a recess that was later bricked up. Here ran a water alley that we suspect gave access from Rik Woutersstraat to the Melaan, where there was a small wooden scaffolding. In this way, people could easily access the water.
After all, water was very important for life in the city. Many trades depended on water. For the site along Zakstraat, historical sources indicate the presence of tanners in the 13th century, wool and cloth dyers in the 14th to 15th centuries, and beer brewers in the 16th to 20th centuries. Together with these sources, the archaeological remains tell the story of the city and its centuries-old connection with the water.
The archaeological research at the site along Zakstraat was conducted by the archaeologists of All-Archeo on behalf of Vastgoed Van Loon. The 3D recordings and the 3D model of the building block were made at the request of the city of Mechelen, by Argus Vision and Nils Faber respectively.
