Antwerp Citadel
The Citadel of Antwerp was a fortress built from 1567 on the southern edge of the city of Antwerp in what was then the Spanish Netherlands (now Belgium ).
investment
The complex, built in the form of a 5 hectare pentagon bastion within the walls , was located between the Léopold II clinic, the Antwerp Zuid train station, the Koning Albert Park and the city park. Of the five bastions, four had the proper names of the governor of the Netherlands, Duke Alba , who had initiated the construction: Baluardo de Fernando , del Duque , de Toledo and de Alba . The fifth was named after the architect Paciotto. Two ruled the city and two the Scheldt .
history
The citadel was built by order of Duke Albas according to plans by the Italian Renaissance architect Francesco Paciotto , modified by Bartolomeo Campi . A statue of Albas had stood in the courtyard since 1571 , commemorating the victory over the Dutch rebels. The Spanish King Philip II had it removed from the square in 1574 after Albas was recalled. In 1577, the Dutch conquered the citadel and finally destroyed the picture.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the bastions were enlarged and further expanded, including the lunettes (Brilschansen) Kiel and Saint-Laurent. It was last important in 1832 during the struggle for Belgian independence, when the fortress, commanded by the Dutch general David Hendrik Chassé , was besieged by French troops under Étienne-Maurice Gérard and taken on December 24, 1832 ( siege of Antwerp ). In 1859 the citadel was demolished with the construction of the Antwerp fortress .
Web links
- Article about the siege of 1832 (Dutch) ( Memento from February 16, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 75 kB)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Martin Espenhorst (ed.) Ignorance and misunderstandings in the premodern peace process. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 2013, ISBN 978-3-525-10127-8 , p. 53f (names of the bastions)
- ↑ Ignorance and misunderstandings in the premodern peace process . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 2013 p. 53 u. 59 (installation, dismantling and destruction of Alba's statue)