En un regard
Le château en bref
On the left bank of the Scheldt, between Burcht and Kruibeke, the fort of Kruibeke illustrates the extension of the Antwerp fortress decided after 1870, when the Franco-Prussian War revealed the increased range of artillery. Built between 1870 and 1882 in the inner belt, it is constructed of brick, a material whose thick vaults were still considered sufficient against bombs. Similar in design to the fort of Zwijndrecht, it replaced the earlier oval reduit with a long infantry barracks and an officers' building set around a courtyard. Its asymmetrical plan, dictated by the nearby river, is distinguished by an extended left flank and a rear defensive wall; high ramparts carried open-air artillery, sheltered by parapets and traverses. Modernised around 1912 and decommissioned in 1947, it suffered heavily from the expansion of a clay pit between 1969 and 1983. Ramparts, traverses and half-caponiers nevertheless survive beneath dense vegetation.