Netherlands · 17th century
Fort De Roovere is an earthen fort, constructed as part of the Dutch Water Line, (Hollandse Waterlinie), a series of water-based defences conceived by Maurice of Nassau in 1628 during the Eighty Years War where it defended against Spanish attackers. It is located near Halsteren.
In 1747, during the Austrian War of Succession (1740–1748) the fort was under siege by the French. This siege has been extensively documented. Eventually, the fortress Bergen op Zoom fell and the siege was abandoned.
During the Napoleonic Wars Bergen op Zoom was besieged again, this time by the English as they chased the French back to their homeland. During this time the Fort de Roovere seems to have received some upkeep but was not attacked. After the end of this conflict the fort was abandoned.
The fort is open from the 'back', and the 'front' consists of two bastions. Until the renovation in 2010 the fort's moat was dry and the surrounding area and banks were overgrown with trees.
Text adapted from “Fort de Roovere” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Fort de Roovere ranks #3,761 of 9,035 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #34 of the 198 mapped in Netherlands. Founded c. 1628, it is older than 28% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 708 atlas entries founded in the 17th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,357 times in the last 60 days, more than 59% of the atlas. 3 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Bergen op Zoom, 3 km away. See how Netherlands compares in the castle statistics.
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