The Gravensteen (
Dutch; ) is a
medieval castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble. This i ...
in the city of
Ghent
Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...
,
East Flanders
East Flanders ( ; ; ; ) is a Provinces of Belgium, province of Belgium. It borders (clockwise from the North) the Netherlands, Dutch province of Zeeland and the Belgian provinces of Antwerp (province), Antwerp, Flemish Brabant, Hainaut (provinc ...
in
Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
. The current castle dates from 1180 and was the residence of the
Counts of Flanders until 1353. It was subsequently re-purposed as a court, prison, mint, and even as a cotton factory. It was restored over 1893–1903 and is now a museum and a major landmark in the city.
Origins
The origins of the Gravensteen date to the reign of
Arnulf I (890–965) in the
County of Flanders
The County of Flanders was one of the most powerful political entities in the medieval Low Countries, located on the North Sea coast of modern-day Belgium and north-eastern France. Unlike the neighbouring states of Duchy of Brabant, Brabant and ...
.
The site, which sat between two branches of the river
Lys, was first fortified around 1000, initially in wood and later in stone. This was soon transformed into a
motte-and-bailey castle
A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy ...
which was burnt down in around 1176.
[
The current castle dates to 1180 and was built by Philip of Alsace (1143–1191) on the site of the older fortification.][ It may have been inspired by crusader castles witnessed by Philip during the ]Second Crusade
The Second Crusade (1147–1149) was the second major crusade launched from Europe. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa in 1144 to the forces of Zengi. The county had been founded during the First Crus ...
. As well as a protective citadel
A citadel is the most fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of ''city'', meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core.
...
, the Gravensteen was intended to intimidate the burghers of Ghent who often challenged the counts' authority. It incorporates a large central donjon
A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residenc ...
, a residence and various smaller buildings. These are surrounded by a fortified, oval-shaped enceinte
Enceinte (from Latin ''incinctus'' "girdled, surrounded") is a French term that refers to the "main defensive enclosure of a fortification". For a castle, this is the main defensive line of wall towers and curtain walls enclosing the positio ...
lined with 24 small échauguettes. It also has a sizeable moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...
, fed with water from the Lys.
From 1180 until 1353, the Gravensteen was the residence of the Counts of Flanders. The decision to leave was taken by Louis of Male (1330–1384) who transferred the court to the nearby Hof ten Walle.[
The foot of a wolf was once nailed to the gate and provides the last known archaeozoological evidence for the wolf in Flanders.
File:Gravensteen poortgebouw.JPG, External view of the gatehouse
File:Gent Gravensteen opschrift boven toegangspoort 9-08-2012 13-30-37.jpg, The dedication stone, dating to 1180
File:Belgique - Gand - Château des Comtes de Flandre - 04.jpg, View of the south side of the donjon
File:Sint-Veerleplein Gravensteen - 183800 - onroerenderfgoed.jpg, Aerial view of the castle, 1970
]
Subsequent history
After ceasing to be the residence of the counts of Flanders, the castle entered a decline. It was used as a court and prison until the 18th century. From 1353 to 1491, it was the site of Ghent's mint. Private buildings were constructed on or around the medieval remains. Ghent emerged as a major centre for textile manufacturing during the Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...
in the 19th century, and the Gravensteen was converted into a cotton mill
A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system.
Although some were driven ...
. It was even scheduled for demolition.
Parts of the castle were bought up gradually by the City of Ghent, which began a major restoration in a romanticising Gothic style between 1893 and 1907 under the architect Joseph De Waele.[ De Waele was inspired the approach of the French architect ]Eugène Viollet-le-Duc
Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc (; 27 January 181417 September 1879) was a French architect and author, famous for his restoration of the most prominent medieval landmarks in France. His major restoration projects included Notre-Dame de Paris, ...
and attempted to restore the castle to its imagined appearance in the 12th century. Many details added during this period, such as the flat roofs and the windows of the eastern outbuilding, are not thought to be historically accurate.
The Gravensteen was the centrepiece of the Ghent World Fair of 1913 during which the city centre was significantly reshaped. It remains open to the public.
Students from Ghent University
Ghent University (, abbreviated as UGent) is a Public university, public research university located in Ghent, in the East Flanders province of Belgium.
Located in Flanders, Ghent University is the second largest Belgian university, consisting o ...
occupied the castle on 16 November 1949 in protest against a new tax against beer. The occupation, referred to popularly as the "Battle of Gravensteen Castle" (''Slag om het Gravensteen''), involved 138 students who seized the castle buildings, lowered the portcullis
A portcullis () is a heavy, vertically closing gate typically found in medieval fortifications. It consists of a latticed Grille (architecture), grille made of wood and/or metal, which slides down grooves inset within each jamb of the gateway.
...
, and barricaded the castle gate. A guard on duty at the time was captured and locked in a closet. After raising banners along the castle walls and pelting passing police officers with rotten fruit, they were eventually detained and removed from the castle, though a public outcry of support led to none of the students being prosecuted for their actions. Their campaign against the beer tax was unsuccessful.Catherine of Alexandria
Catherine of Alexandria, also spelled Katherine, was, according to tradition, a Christian saint and Virginity, virgin, who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the emperor Maxentius. According to her hagiography, she was both a ...
seated in the castle. Illumination by Simon Bening from the manuscript ''Hortulus Animae
''Hortulus Animae'' (, , , ) was the Latin title of a prayer book also available in German. It was very popular in the early sixteenth century, printed in many versions, also abroad in Lyons and Kraków.
History
An earlier well-known work of de ...
'' (1510)
File:Gravensteen - Gent.jpg, The Gravensteen, depicted in '' Flandria Illustrata'' (1641)
File:Oude burg, Gent (1823).PNG, View of the Gravensteen's gatehouse in 1823, prior to the restoration
File:Gravensteen, c. 1880-1890.jpg, Photo of the castle before the restoration, 1880. The factory buildings are still visible.
File:Edmond Sacré, Gravensteen, 1893 (cropped).jpg, The castle, pictured in 1893 during the restoration work. The buildings around the castle have been demolished.
File:Gravensteen, Ghent, Belgium, 1890s.jpg, Photochrom
Photochrom, Fotochrom, Photochrome or the Aäc process is a process of hand-colouring of photographs, hand-colouring photographs from a single black-and-white photographic negative, negative with subsequent photographic transfer onto Lithography, ...
picture of the castle in the later stages of the restoration, 1900
See also
* List of castles in Belgium
References
External links
Official websiteCastle of the Counts
at Visit Ghent
{{Authority control
Castles in Belgium
Castles in East Flanders
Buildings and structures in Ghent
Buildings and structures completed in 1180
Museums in Ghent
Historic house museums in Belgium
Tourist attractions in Ghent