Het Steen
Het Steen - The Rock, built between 1200 and 1225 as the gateway to the castle of the Dukes of Brabant (demolished in the 19th century) and the water gate to Antwerp. As the first stone fortress of Antwerp, it is Antwerp's oldest building.
"Another relic of the past is the Steen, originally part of the Castle of Antwerp, through which the ascent to the N. Promenoir from the Quai Van Dyck now leads. The castle dates from the 10th cent., and remained in the hands of the lords of the soil till 1549, when Charles V. made it over to the burghers of Antwerp. It was afterwards the seat of the Spanish Inquisition. The dungeons, 'oubliettes', etc., still bear sombre witness to its former history."--Baedeker 1910.
IMG_9860p1
Belgium became independent from the Netherlands in 1830 and was occupied by Germany during World Wars I and II. It has prospered in the past half century as a modern, technologically advanced European state and member of NATO and the EU. Tensions bet... ... read more 
