Gravensteen Castle Belgium

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.

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