Waterpoort

En un regard

Le château en bref

The Waterpoort, also known as the Porta Regia or Coninckxpoort, is a Baroque monumental gate in Antwerp, erected in 1624 under Spanish rule. It served a dual purpose, as the inscriptions on its two faces indicate: it was a water gate in the city walls, giving access to the Scheldt and the Vlasmarkt quay, and a triumphal arch dedicated to Philip IV of Spain. Its sculpted decoration is the work of Huibrecht van den Eynde, assisted by Hans van Mildert, both of whom are known from the archives. The design is traditionally attributed to Peter Paul Rubens, though there is no formal proof of his involvement. One face bears a statue of Neptune, the other coats of arms and heraldic lions. The structure has been moved twice, hence its nickname ‘the wandering gate’: relocated to the Sint-Jansvliet in the 1880s during works on the Scheldt quays, it was dismantled in 1933 to build the entrance to the Sint-Anna pedestrian tunnel, then reassembled in 1936 on the Gillisplaats, in the Zuid district near the Zuiderdokken, where it now stands in the open air.