Скачать или смотреть Loevestein Castle

Loevestein is a castle and fortress, which falls under the municipality of Zaltbommel, in the Dutch province of Gelderland and is open to the public as Museum Slot Loevestein. It is located just northwest of the village of Poederoijen at the end of the Schouwendijk in the floodplains of the Waal and the Afgedamde Maas. Just west of the castle, on the other side of the Afgedamde Maas, lies the fortified town of Woudrichem, municipality of Altena.

Knight Dirc Loef van Horne ordered the construction of the castle around 1361. He used it as a residence, from which he could conduct raids and levy illegal tolls. After him, the castle came into the hands of the lord of Holland and was used as a defense against other feudal lords. At the beginning of the Eighty Years' War, when the castle was occupied by the Spanish, it was easily taken by the beggar leader Herman de Ruyter on the orders of William of Orange. The Spanish conquered it once more, but after that it remained the property of the State. Until after the Belgian Revolution, the castle served as a state prison, with Hugo de Groot as its most famous prisoner, who managed to escape after two years with the help of a book chest. In the hands of the State, it was given modern defences and became part of the Old and later New Dutch Waterline as a fort. The military function was abolished in 1951. The complex was restored from 1925 to 1986; it currently serves as a national museum and has the status of a national monument.

The castle consists of a hall building, two corner towers and a gate tower and is surrounded by a moat. The fort is surrounded by two moats and has five bastions. There are several buildings inside the fort.