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Gravensteen Castle Belgium
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The Gravensteen is a fortified moated castle located in the East Flemish city of Ghent with an almost intact defense system. • The current castle dates from 1180 and was the residence of the counts of Flanders until 1353. • It was later repurposed as a court, prison, coin printing house and even as a cotton factory. It was restored in 1893-1903. • Now it is a museum and one of the city's tourist attractions. The castle gate, fence wall, barn, count's residence and horse stables are open to visitors. • To build a fortification, the counts of Flanders chose a high sand dune with swampy banks in the middle of the Leie arms. This place had previously been briefly occupied in Roman times (during the 1st-2nd centuries), but was then abandoned again. • Count Baldwin I (837-879) is said to have had the first fortification erected as a defense against the invasions of the Normans. • Around 879, the Gravensteen was part of the army camp from which the Scheldt Vikings plundered the area. • Count Arnulf I (889-965) had the fortification drastically renovated into what can be seen as the first real predecessor of the later castle. • On a wood-reinforced embankment there was a large central building, with several outbuildings, intended for, among other things, the storage of grain and other foodstuffs. All buildings were made of wood. • In the Miracula Bavonis (mid 10th century) the area is called novum castellum or new fortification. Leather workers lived there and there may have already been a chapel. • Count Robrecht I de Fries (between 1029/1032-1093) had the existing fortification drastically renovated. • The central wooden building was replaced by a large stone keep measuring 33 by 18.8 meters, which had three floors. • The three large halls one above the other, the monumental stone staircase, the light openings, the wall fireplaces and the latrines emphasize the luxury and comfort of that time. • The large hall building, or auditorium, mainly had a representative function. • The actual count's living space or camera must have been nearby. There were again wooden utility buildings around it, as well as a tower. • The whole was surrounded by a fence. • During a subsequent construction phase, a motte-and-bailey castle was created, with a characteristic upper court and forecourt. A motte mound was formed around the stone keep with earth from the moat dug around it. • The former ground floor hall, which was originally on the ground floor, became a cellar. There were also all kinds of wooden outbuildings on the motte plateau. • A stone gate and a stone fence separated the main courtyard from a courtyard where utility buildings stood. Motte-and-bailey castles were common in the 11th and 12th centuries. • In this way, the nobles, and therefore also the Count of Flanders, confirmed their presence in a certain area to the monarch, other nobles and subordinates. • In 1176 a major fire ravaged the motte-and-bailey castle and the buildings in the forecourt. • Count Philip of Alsace (1142-1191) had a completely new castle built on the existing castle (1180). • The motte mound was raised and widened as a base for a new series of wooden outbuildings. • The central hall construction was built into a majestic keep or Hall Keep of about 30 m. The gate was given a front building and connected to a fence with 24 protruding towers. • Stones of various colors gave the military architecture a rich appearance. • The castle thus symbolized an unmistakable sign of the count's power in turbulent Ghent, and formed a counterbalance to the high stone houses of the wealthy patricians on the other side of the Leie. Perhaps he took the Krak des Chevaliers as an example. • Count Louis of Male (1330-1384) felt that the Gravensteen offered him too little comfort and moved the residential function to the Hof ten Walle (later Prinsenhof, where Emperor Charles V was born on February 24, 1500). • The castle retained its general administrative function in the county of Flanders. From 1353, the Mint of Ghent was transferred to the castle. • From 1407 onwards, the Council of Flanders, the highest court in the county, was also housed there. The castle was now also used as a prison. • Over the centuries, the canals along Sint-Veerleplein and Geldmunt silted up. Numerous townspeople built houses on these fills and along a canal that was reduced to a sewer, which largely concealed the count's castle from view until around 1900. • The Council continued to use the castle until 1778, when it started selling it to private individuals. Ultimately, it was Jean-Denis Brismaille who purchased the former upper court of the Castle of the Counts and had it converted into an industrial complex. • please visit our channel and Subscribe • 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻 • @Pearltrip • • / @pearltrip • / pearltrip1 • Thank you for supporting us with your like, comment and subscribe
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