Stan Castle

A castle in downtown Antwerp. The exact date of the appearance of Castle Stan, as well as Antwerp itself, is unknown. This probably didn’t happen before the seventh century. The walls of the castle were laid in the IX century. This is the most colorful monument on the embankment of the Scheldt River and at the same time the oldest preserved remains of the settlement.

The castle once belonged to Gottfried of Buillon, the famous leader of the First Crusade. Later it became the residence of the city government. During the Spanish rule, the Inquisition was located here, which severely dealt with heretics, freethinkers and witches.

Currently, the National Navigation Museum is located in the castle. In 1963, in front of the entrance to the castle, a monument was erected to the Long Wapper, a character of Antwerp folklore, who, turning into a dwarf or a giant, frightened naughty children and lost drunks.