Belgium · 12th century
Het Steen is a medieval fortress in the old city centre of Antwerp, Belgium, one of Europe's biggest ports. The surviving structure was built between 1200 and 1225 as a gateway to a larger castle of the Dukes of Brabant which was demolished in the 19th century. As the first stone fortification (city wall) of Antwerp, Het Steen is Antwerp's oldest building and used to be part of its oldest urban centre. The words "Het Steen", translated from Dutch mean "the rock" in English, although that is not the equivalent etymological meaning.
Text adapted from “Het Steen” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Het Steen ranks #719 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #7 of the 128 mapped in Belgium. Founded 1200, it is older than 75% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 756 atlas entries founded in the 12th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 7,840 times in the last 60 days, more than 92% of the atlas. 12 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Antwerp, 1 km away. See how Belgium compares in the castle statistics.
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