Royal Destination: Gravensteen Castle in Gent, Flanders, Belgium: a place full of myths

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Gravensteen Castle view from the water in Gent, Flanders, Belgium

One of the most important historical buildings in Ghent, certainly is the
Gravensteen, which meant actually the 'castle of the count'.

Gravensteen Castle view from the street in Ghent, Flanders, Belgium.
Sorry for the annoying car on it. 


Some (royal) history

The Gravensteen Castle was actually the castle of the Counts of Flanders,
who were vassals of the King of France.

Gravensteen Ghent, Flanders Belgium, entrance


This magnificent building was built by count Philip of Alsace in 1180
and it was modeled after the crusaders castles that Philip had seen when
he participated in the second crusade.

Count Philip of Alsace
Source picture: Wikipedia


Before the construction of the Gravensteen (the castle in stone) there was
a wooden building on the same place probably built in the 9th century.

This castle served as the main seat of the Count of Flanders until they
abandoned it in the 14th century.

So it is a myth that the Gravensteen was the place where Jacqueline,
countess of Hainault (in Dutch: Jacoba van Beieren) was taken captive
by Philip the Good, the Burgundian duke who also was the count
of Flanders then. In fact, Jacqueline had house arrest on a very luxurious
place called the Posteerne.

Jacqueline, Countess of Hainault
Source picture: Wikipedia


After the Middle Ages the castle was served in different ways. It was a
courthouse, a prison and even a factory.

However in the 19th century, people started to have interest in their own
history. Luckily the castle was a part of a renovation project in 1885.
The complete renovation was finished in 1893.

Nowadays it houses various museums. One is about the weapons and
armors in the Middle Ages.

Knight at the Gravensteen


The other shows various torture techniques.

torture techniques shows the dark history of the Gravensteen


A visit

 I visited the Gravensteen castle on 3 August 2018. It really is very easy to
get there. The regular entrance price is 10 € and it is well worth the visit.

I also visited the Gravensteen castle in 2003 but there were a lot of changes
made in 2008. People are still able to visit the walls, although the viewpoints
were almost closed, due to security.


On top of the Gravensteen Castle



 Trivia

At the Gravensteen castle the prestigious BBC series The White Queen was
filmed.

In 2015, the movie Emperor was recorded inter alia at the Gravensteen in Gent.


Location: Gent, België

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