Kezelfort

The Kezelfort on the Edelareberg in Edelare is a defensive structure that was part of the Wellington barrier, a triple defensive line of fortifications that were built between 1815 and 1830 in the south of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands under the impetus of the Duke of Wellington after the fall of Napoleon as a reinforcement against France. The Kezelfort is a pentagonal symmetrical defensive system with a complete anti-mining system. After the establishment of Belgium in 1830, the military lookout posts were dismantled; however, the tunnel network has been preserved. On the fort site, there is also the 19th-century pleasure house of the Thienpont family in the form of a neo-Gothic tower with a belvedere. During the German invasion in 1940, part of the Oudenaarde population fled into the underground corridors of the fort. Due to its bat population, the Kezelfort is part of the European protected Natura 2000 habitat directive area 'Forests of the Flemish Ardennes and other South Flemish forests'.

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