# Het Steen

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Canonical page: https://mytuur.com/en/city/antwerp/spot/burg-steen/

Content updated: 2026-06-22

Burg Steen is a medieval fortress beside the Scheldt in Antwerp, and the city’s oldest surviving building. Built between 1200 and 1225, it originally formed the gateway to a larger castle belonging to the Dukes of Brabant. Its stone walls later served as a city hall, court, and prison, with the prison operating from 1303 to 1827.

Much of the surrounding castle and walled city disappeared during nineteenth-century works to straighten the river quays, while this section survived and underwent major alterations. A 1890 archaeology museum and a 1952 maritime-history extension once occupied the site, which now combines a visitor centre with a modern addition, historical exhibits, and a Canadian war memorial. Above the entrance arch, a second-century bas-relief shows Semini, a Scandinavian god associated with youth and fertility.

Lange Wapper, a legendary giant, stands with two human figures on the entrance bridge. The fortress also connects Antwerp’s history with opera: Wagner’s Lohengrin places a scene in Antwerp Castle around 933, inspiring the design of Neuschwanstein through its stage directions.

- City: [Antwerp](https://mytuur.com/en/city/antwerp/)

## Photos

- ![](https://mytuur-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/image_BurgSteen_683ffb5d717a3e13abad42b6_0.jpg) — [Image: wikimedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:P1010882copyHet_Steen.jpg)
- ![](https://mytuur-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/image_BurgSteen_683ffb5d717a3e13abad42b6_1.jpg) — [Image: wikimedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Antwerp,_Belgium_\(8007078343\).jpg)
- ![](https://mytuur-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/image_BurgSteen_683ffb5d717a3e13abad42b6_2.jpg) — [Image: wikimedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Het_Steen_\(Antwerp\)_2.jpg)
- ![](https://mytuur-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/image_BurgSteen_683ffb5d717a3e13abad42b6_3.jpg) — [Image: wikimedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Steen.jpg)

Spots like this one are the stops myTuur strings into tours through Antwerp. In the app, each story begins where you stand: walk up to a spot and it starts, read it on screen or listen as you go, then follow the route to the next one.

## What is myTuur?

myTuur is a free city-guide app. Its tours are built from spots, and each spot carries a story that starts when you get there, to read or to listen to as you like.