Archaeological Site Ename

The archaeological site in the East Flemish borough of Ename is one of the four pillars of the Provincial Archaeological Museum.

The site is 8 hectares in size and is situated in the Scheldemeersen. Here are the foundations of the Ottonian castle, the trading settlement and the Saint Salvator Abbey. The castle was built around 974 at the end of a spit of land in a meandering bend of the Scheldt. Written sources state that Godfrey of Verdun, also known as Godfrey the Prisoner, a member of the Ardennes-Verdun family, and his wife Mathildis of Saxony, widow of the Flemish Count Baldwin III, were the builders. Within the castle area there was a chapel of Our Lady to which a chapter of canons was attached and which the castle itself was described as "extraordinarily strong". Together with those of the mark of Antwerp and Valenciennes, this fortification formed the border defence system of margraviate that the German emperor had developed in the Scheldt valley. At its head was a margrave who had to ensure the guarding of the national border, initially against the intrusive county of Flanders, which was on the other side of the stream.

Known for its loyalty to the emperor, the Ardennes-Verdun family developed Ename into a special place, the main seat of Lorraine as a historical source testifies. Indeed, the complex contained more than a castle. There was also a portus attached to it, a settlement that took on a pre-urban allure due to the extra stimulus that trade activities received locally, among other things. Two churches, St. Salvator's Church and St. Lawrence's Church, respectively, marked the strong growth of this port town. Ename was responsible for the stability of the Lorraine part of the Empire.

Ename's international appeal didn't last long. As early as 1047, Count Baldwin IV of Flanders took possession of the castle and the port town. Baldwin V of Flanders founded a Benedictine monastery on the same site in 1063, St. Salvator's Abbey.

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