A trip to Ghent in Belgium is not complete without a visit to Gravensteen Castle, which is translated from Dutch as "Castle of the Counts". The castle was built on the banks of the river Lys in 1180 and was the residence of the Counts of Flanders until 1353. After this time, it was used as a court, prison, mint, and cotton factory. In 1903, the restoration work of the castle was completed, and it is now a museum. Prior to 1180, the castle was a motte and bailey wooden one, but it was replaced with this stone one in 1180.
The castle was built in 1180 by Philip of Alsace.
The castle was actually due to be demolished, but luckily it found a new lease of life as a romantic ruin and was opened to the public in the late 1800s. It was the centrepiece for the Ghent World Fair of 1913.
A visit to the castle today takes about two hours. Visitors can take an audio guide to hear witty commentary by a comedian about the castle history, though some of this is just fluffy talk and I would have preferred a little more history and facts about the castle.
Overall, the castle has been restored very well with rooms and buildings that can be visited. Some of the rooms contain swords and armour.
One thing to do is to climb the castle keep (tower) for the wonderful views over Ghent.
The tour then continues through various rooms.
And ends with a visit to see the dungeon and hear some of the horror death stories from the medieval days and how people were punished.
Then, a walk along the walls was made to view the tower before returning the audio guides.
I peeked at the bottom of the castle keep and saw a boat and what looks like part of the canal.
Have you ever visited Gravensteen Castle?
Leave a comment