Kezelfort

En un regard

Le château en bref

On the heights of the Edelareberg, south of Oudenaarde, the Kezelfort recalls the Wellington Barrier, a chain of fortified towns built between 1815 and 1830 facing France. The town, overlooked by two hills, was to be protected by two forts; only the one on the Kezelberg was built, between 1822 and 1824, by private contractors under the direction of engineer major Brunsveld van Hulten. Covering about nine hectares, the work has a pentagonal plan: its broad base faces the town while the other four fronts command the approaches. Brick buildings with bluestone surrounds sheltered beneath high earth ramparts, with powder magazines on the flanks. Its distinctive feature is a network of 38 countermine galleries, unique in Flanders. Abandoned when defence was concentrated on Antwerp, it was sold in 1853 and its buildings demolished. In 1892 the Thienpont family erected a neo-Gothic tower with a belvedere there; the dry moat, part of the counterscarp and the galleries survive.