Gravensteen

Gravensteen

A castle in the city

Most great castles stand on lonely hills or remote cliffs, but Gravensteen sits right in the middle of a busy city — the lovely old town of Ghent, in Belgium. Its grey stone walls, round towers and central keep rise straight up from a moat of dark water, surrounded by canals, cobbled streets and tall medieval houses. Its name means "Castle of the Counts", because it was the home of the powerful counts who once ruled the region of Flanders.

Built like a crusader fortress

The castle we see today was built in 1180 by Philip of Alsace, the Count of Flanders. Philip had travelled far to the east on crusade, and he had seen the mighty stone castles that European knights built in the Holy Land. When he came home, he decided to build his own castle in the same powerful style, with a tall central keep ringed by strong walls and towers — a fortress meant to impress and to frighten.

From behind these walls the counts ruled over Flanders, which in the Middle Ages was one of the richest parts of Europe, famous for its busy cities and its fine cloth.

Many different lives

Over the centuries Gravensteen lived many different lives. After the counts moved to grander homes, the castle was used as a courthouse, where judges decided the fate of accused criminals. It became a prison, with dark cells and, sadly, a torture chamber — for justice in those days could be cruel. Later still, parts of the castle were even turned into a cotton mill, with workers' houses crammed inside the ancient walls.

By the 1800s the old fortress was crowded with buildings and falling into disrepair, and some people wanted to tear it down altogether.

Saved and restored

Luckily, the people of Ghent came to treasure their old castle. Around the year 1900 it was rescued and carefully restored, with the later additions cleared away so that the medieval fortress could be seen once more. Today it stands proudly in the heart of the city, looking much as it did when the counts of Flanders ruled.

The castle even has a famous funny moment in its history: in 1949, a group of university students "captured" Gravensteen in a cheerful protest, climbing the walls and pelting the police below with fruit — a prank still fondly remembered in Ghent.

A museum of the Middle Ages

Inside, Gravensteen now holds a collection that brings the harsher side of the Middle Ages to life, including suits of armour, old weapons, and a rather grisly display of instruments of justice and torture. It is a powerful reminder that castles were not only beautiful but also places of real power over people's lives.

Visiting today

Visitors can cross the bridge over the moat, explore the keep and the wall-walks, and climb to the battlements for a wonderful view over the rooftops, towers and canals of Ghent. With its crusader-style walls rising from the water in the middle of a living city, Gravensteen is one of the most striking castles in all of Europe — a stern grey giant guarding the heart of Flanders.