History
Gravensteen history in brief
From a count's timber fortress to a cotton mill and back again: the story of Gravensteen in Ghent, built in 1180 and restored from the 1890s.
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The Gravensteen is the castle Philip of Alsace, Count of Flanders, had built in Ghent in 1180 on the site of older fortifications. It was meant to keep a rebellious city in check. After the counts left it served as a court, prison and mint, then as a cotton mill, and was rescued and restored from the 1890s. It has been open to visitors since 1907.
A fortress between two rivers
Wikipedia places the site between two branches of the river Lys, where the counts of Flanders first built a fortification in timber. The castle's own history page says Count Arnulf I built a wooden fortress on the spot, with a main building and outbuildings including a grain store. In the eleventh century, it adds, the timber gave way to a luxurious stone residence in Tournai limestone. A great fire in 1176 swept through the earlier castle, and that cleared the ground for the building that stands today.
Philip of Alsace and the castle of 1180
The current castle dates from 1180. An inscription over the gatehouse, which the castle's history page quotes, says it was built that year by Philip, Count of Flanders and of Vermandois, son of Count Theoderic and Sibylla. Philip had the moat raised and extended, turned the central building into a tower about thirty metres high, and ringed the yard with a wall carrying 24 small turrets. Stones of different colours gave the walls a richer look. Both Wikipedia and the castle's site suggest that crusader castles may have inspired the design.
Built to be looked up at
Wikipedia says the Gravensteen was meant as a protective citadel and also to intimidate the burghers of Ghent, who often challenged the counts' authority. The castle's history page quotes a contemporary chronicle that gave the purpose as to curb the arrogance of the people of Ghent. Ghent was a wool town, and wealthy traders had built stone houses of their own. The count answered with a bigger stone building. It is why the castle still looks the way a fortress aimed at a restless city would look.
Court, mint and prison
Wikipedia calls the castle the residence of the counts of Flanders until 1353, when Louis of Male moved the court to the nearby Hof ten Walle. The castle's own history page says it was never a permanent residence: the household stayed only when it was in Ghent, and the castle was mainly the county's administrative centre and a law court. From the fourteenth century the Council of Flanders sat here. Wikipedia adds that the castle housed Ghent's mint from 1353 to 1491 and served as a court and prison until the eighteenth century.
The cotton mill years
When the court left in the eighteenth century, the building was auctioned. The castle's history page says the architect Jean-Denis Brismaille bought the first plot and turned the fortress into an industrial complex of cotton mills and a metal workshop. Dwellings for some fifty workers' families were built on the free land. Dutch Wikipedia notes that houses crowded round the walls hid much of the castle from view until about 1900. Wikipedia adds that the castle was at one point scheduled for demolition.
Rescue and restoration
At the end of the nineteenth century the companies moved to the edge of the city, and the dilapidated castle found no buyer for demolition. The city and the state bought the site back in stages. The architect Joseph De Waele led a restoration in a romantic style, inspired by the French restorer Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. Wikipedia notes that many details added then, such as the flat roofs, are not thought to be historically accurate. The castle's site says it has been open to the public since 1907 and that the 1913 World Exhibition made it Ghent's biggest tourist attraction.
The Battle of Gravensteen
One later episode is a favourite of Ghent students. Wikipedia says that on 16 November 1949, 138 students from Ghent University occupied the castle in protest against a new tax on beer, lowered the portcullis and barricaded the gate. They were removed, and public support meant that none was prosecuted. Dutch Wikipedia adds that the occupation is remembered each year in student celebrations, and that some of the organisers later described it as a student prank. Both accounts agree on the date and the outcome.
The castle today
Dutch Wikipedia says that since June 2016 the moat has been two-thirds full of water again, and that the castle is run by Historische Huizen Gent as a museum and major landmark. Visitors can see the gatehouse, the wall, the keep, the counts' residence and the stables, along with collections of weapons and of objects connected with justice. Details of what is open on a given day belong to the castle's own website, which is also where castle entry is sold.
Frequently asked questions
Who built Gravensteen?
Philip of Alsace, Count of Flanders, built the present castle in 1180 on the site of older fortifications, according to Wikipedia and an inscription over the gatehouse quoted by the castle's own history page.
Did the counts live in the castle?
Wikipedia calls it the counts' residence until 1353. The castle's own history page says the household stayed only when it was in Ghent. Both agree the castle was a seat of administration and justice.
Was the castle ever a factory?
Yes. After it was auctioned in the eighteenth century it became a complex of cotton mills and workshops, with dwellings for workers' families on the free land inside the walls.
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