Point of interest
Het Steen
in Antwerp, Belgium
Antwerp's oldest building, a medieval riverside fortress dating to the early 13th century, now a visitor centre with skyline views over the Scheldt.
Where it is
Het Steen sits on the right bank of the Scheldt at the edge of the old town, on the Steenplein promenade not far from the Grote Markt.
Address: 1,1A Steenplein, 2000 Antwerp
What it is
Today Het Steen houses the city's visitor centre and the interactive exhibition 'The Antwerp Story', which tells the city's history through multimedia displays. From the tower's roof terrace a panoramic view opens over the Scheldt, the port and the old-town skyline.
History
The fortress was built between roughly 1200 and 1225 and is Antwerp's oldest surviving building, once guarding access to the Scheldt. Over the centuries it served, among other things, as a prison and a maritime museum, before reopening after a renovation in October 2021 with a modern concrete extension.