Antwerp Citadel

En un regard

Le château en bref

The Antwerp Citadel, also known as the Citadel of the Duke of Alba, was one of the most modern fortifications in Europe of its time. Decided in 1567 by Philip II of Spain on the proposal of the Duke of Alba, it was built outside the city walls, on the Kiel, at the edge of the Scheldt, to plans by the Italian engineer Francesco Paciotto, who drew inspiration from a design drawn up in 1564 for the citadel of Turin. The fort adopted a regular pentagonal plan with a bastion at each corner and was completed around 1572. Conceived to keep the city under control at the start of the Revolt of the Netherlands, it became the symbol of foreign oppression: in 1577, after the expulsion of the Spanish garrison, the people of Antwerp partly dismantled its defences. Repaired, it still endured the sieges of 1814 and 1832, then disappeared in the nineteenth century with the construction of a new enceinte and the urbanisation of the Zuid district. Only buried remains survive, such as the Fernando Bastion (also called Hernandez), uncovered beneath the garden of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp.