Antwerp Citadel ( es, Castillo de Amberes, nl, Kasteel van Antwerpen) was a pentagonal bastion fort built to defend and dominate the city of

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

in the early stages of the

Dutch Revolt The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) (Historiography of the Eighty Years' War#Name and periodisation, c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and t ...

. It has been described as "doubtlesse the most matchlesse piece of modern Fortification in the World" and as "one of the most studied urban installations of the sixteenth century".

History

The citadel was designed by the Italian engineer

Francesco Paciotto Pietro Francesco Tagliapietra known as Francesco Paciotto (1521 - 1591) was an Italian military and civil architect, born and died in Urbino. Biography He was a pupil of Girolamo Genga at Urbino, before going to Rome to attend fhe Vitruvian Acade ...

and built on the orders of the

Duke of Alva Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranke ...

. Initial construction was completed in 1572. After the

Sack of Antwerp The Sack of Antwerp, often known as the Spanish Fury at Antwerp, was an episode of the Eighty Years' War. It is the greatest massacre in the history of the Low Countries. On 4 November 1576, mutinying Spain, Spanish tercios of the Army of Flande ...

(1576) the citizens partially demolished the fortification, but it was reconstructed after the

Fall of Antwerp The Fall of Antwerp on 17 August 1585 took place during the Eighty Years' War, after a siege lasting over a year from July 1584 until August 1585. The city of Antwerp was the focal point of the Protestant-dominated Dutch Revolt, but was force ...

(1585). The citadel saw action towards the end of the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

, when it was defended by diehard Bonapartists. The

Siege of Antwerp (1814) The siege of Antwerp took place during the War of the Sixth Coalition and lasted from 14 January 1814 to 4 May 1814. Background After the German campaign of 1813, Napoleon had to retreat back across the Rhine. Whereas the two armies of Blüc ...

continued for a month after Napoleon's abdication. After the Belgian Revolution of 1830, Dutch forces remained in control of the citadel until the

Siege of Antwerp (1832) The siege of Antwerp took place after fighting in the Belgian Revolution ended. On 15 November 1832, the French ''Armée du Nord'' under Marshal Gérard began to lay siege to the Dutch troops there under David Chassé. The siege ended on 23 D ...

. Demolition began in 1874 and was completed in 1881. The site became a new neighbourhood of the city, Zuid, in which the most prominent construction was the new building for the

Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp The Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp ( Dutch: ''Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen'', ''KMSKA'') is a museum in Antwerp, Belgium, founded in 1810, that houses a collection of paintings, sculptures and drawings from the fourteenth ...

Governors of the citadel

In Spanish the title of the governor of the citadel was ''Castellano de Amberes'' ("Castellan of Antwerp"). *1576:

Sancho d'Avila Sancho d'Avila (21 September 1523 – 1583) was a Spanish general. Born at Ávila, he first served as the commander of the Duke of Alba's bodyguard. It was in this function that d'Avila arrested the Count of Egmont. When the Eighty Years' ...

*1577:

Philippe III de Croÿ Philippe de Croÿ, 3rd Duke of Aarschot, 4th Prince of Chimay, Count of Porcean (Valenciennes, 10 July 1526Venice, 11 December 1595), was Stadtholder of Flanders, and inherited the estates of the ancient and wealthy family of Croÿ. Becoming a so ...

*1587–1596: Don

Cristóbal de Mondragón Cristóbal de Mondragón y Otálora de Mercado (1514–1596) was a Spanish general during the Eighty Years' War. He was a prominent military figure of the sixteenth century, and was colonel of one of the Tercios of Flanders under the Duke of Al ...

*1606-1622: Don

Íñigo de Borja Don Íñigo de Borja y Velasco (1575–1622) was a Spanish nobleman and military commander who served as governor of Antwerp Citadel. Family Don Íñigo was born at Gandía in 1575 to the prominent Spanish noble house of Borja, the son of Franci ...

* -1674: Don Pedro Sanpayo. *1674-1678: Don Mateo de Villegas. *1679–1693: Don

Francisco Marcos de Velasco Don Francisco Marcos de Velasco y Alvear, Marquesss of Pico de Velasco, ( Carasa, Voto, Cantabria, 1633 – Antwerp, 17 June 1693) was a Spanish military governor and commander of Antwerp Citadel. Life Velasco was born into a Spanish noble house d ...

*1693-1695: Don Diego Gomez, Marques of Espinosa *1695-1700: Don Pedro Alvarez de Vega. *1700-: Don Luis de Borja, Marquess of Caracena. *1830–1832:

David Hendrik Chassé David Hendrik, Baron Chassé (Tiel, 18 March 1765 – Breda, 2 May 1849) was a Dutch soldier who fought both for and against Napoleon. He commanded the Third Netherlands Division that intervened at a crucial moment in the Battle of Waterloo. In ...

* Don Fernando de Solís y Vargas de Carvajal, died 1669. * Don Geronimo de Cobos, died 1643 * Don Diego de Heredia y Arambulo, died 1704 * Don Antonio de Castro y Tello, died 1659 * Don Julian Martinez de la Parra

Our Lady of the Citadel

In the Sint-Joriskerk there is still a brotherhood called Our Lady of the Citadel ( nl, Onze-Lieve-Vrouw van het Kasteel).

References

{{coord, 51.208425000000005, 4.392738888888888, display=title Buildings and structures in Antwerp Military history of Belgium 16th century in Antwerp Fortifications in Belgium