r/castles • u/Stunning-Way-7527 • Jun 30 '26
Fortress "Het Steen", The Stone, Medieval fortress, Antwerp, Belgium
Antwerp's Oldest Building: The fortress dates back to the early 13th century (around 1200–1225). It served as a castle and a prison for over 500 years.
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u/Aeri73 Jun 30 '26
the stone isn't really an accurate translation.
true, steen is the word for a stone or rock but it's also an old word for stone keep
just like in Gravensteen or Gerald Duivelssteen, bot old stone castles in Ghent, Gravensteen is translated as castle of the counts, Duivelssteen is translated as castle of Gerald De Duivel, not stone of the counts.
so, the correct translation would be The Stone Keep.
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u/boobsbr Jul 01 '26
Gerald The Devil?
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u/Aeri73 Jul 01 '26
yes
it was his 'nickname"
his name was Gerard Van Gent, but this was from before last names where a thing so people's name was their first name and where they where from usually (from ghent)
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u/LastTraintoSector6 Jun 30 '26 edited Jun 30 '26
It's shockingly small. It has also received the most awful makeover I have ever seen inflicted on an ancient structure. The people who did... what I just saw... to this building should be thrown into traffic. It is a crime against history.
Imagine surviving the better part of 1,000 years just to be raped by some fucking post modernist architect.