When you say Rupelmonde, you say Mercator and the Graventoren. This historic tower is a former moated castle that is linked to a bloody history.
The Graventoren was once owned by the Counts of Flanders. This colossal fortress protected the Scheldt from attackers and conquerors.
Historical context:
Mercator's dungeon
Mercator also plays a leading role in this story. When he shared his revolutionary insights with the world, he was promptly sent to the dungeon by the church authorities. Guess where that dungeon was located? Exactly, in the cellars of the Graventoren. He was locked up here for seven months, accused of heresy.
A bloody history
However, Mercator was not the only one who saw the cellars of the moated castle from the inside. Many dissidents suffered the same fate, and often worse. A stay in the dungeons of the Graventoren often ended with a bloody beheading. The Counts of Flanders may have a legendary status in history, but they were not sweethearts. Count Robrecht van Bethune once even threw his own son in jail here, accused of high treason. A kind of room arrest avant la lettre, you could say.
At the end of the 17th century, the curtain fell for the moated castle. The fortress was then drastically destroyed and the rubble was reused for other buildings. For example, the church of Rupelmonde was built with materials from the ruins of the castle.