Fort van Liezele

En un regard

Le château en bref

Fort Liezele is located in Liezele, a district of Puurs-Sint-Amands in the province of Antwerp. Built from 1908 for the second ring of fortifications around Antwerp, it received its first soldiers in March 1913. During the siege of Antwerp in 1914, Commandant Fiévez secured permission to destroy the neighbouring village, so as to deprive the attacker of cover: Liezele was set on fire on the night of 4 to 5 September, and Antwerp capitulated on 10 October. The fort then lost its active role and served only as a depot, which left it almost intact until the municipality of Puurs bought it in 1979. The Stichting Fort Liezele foundation (1997) assembles collections there and takes part in the restoration. The site, of roughly 18 hectares, houses a museum-memorial devoted to the fortress of Antwerp in 1914, which was renovated and reopened in autumn 2022, as well as a café and a landscaped park resulting from a 2012 design competition. The fort is protected as a heritage site by the Flemish Region.