Het Steen is a castle in the Belgian town of Elewijt and is often also called The Castle of Elewijt or The Rubens Castle. It was protected as a monument in 1948.
Het Steen originated in the 11th century from a motte-and-bailey castle, a large wooden building with a watchtower on an artificial hill. It was built to protect the city of Vilvoorde and the Duchy of Brabant against the attacks of the Mechelen, because there were few or no natural obstacles. Around the year 1300 a stone fortress arose in its place. In the mid-14th century, the Count of Flanders, Lodewijk van Male, tried to take Brabant from his sister-in-law Johanna and Mechelen chose to join the Flemings, against the Brabanters. The then lord of Elewijt, Gijzelbrecht Taye, did not hesitate for a moment to equip his castle with 28 armours. In the 16th century there was a Spanish garrison at the castle at the time of Alexander Farnese.
After the long period of wars and religious unrest, Het Steen became a peaceful place to stay. The Lord of Korbeek, Jan Cools, was the owner from 1619. However, he was in deep debt and was forced to sell the dilapidated castle in 1631. Peter Paul Rubens bought it then for the nice sum of 93,000 carolus guilders; he had it thoroughly renovated and lived there from 1635 until his death in 1640. Many of his famous paintings are landscapes from Elewijt, the most famous of which is an Autumn Landscape with a view of the Steen. In 1792 the castle was converted into a state prison. The castle has been in the possession of Tourism Flanders since July 2019.