Fortress Belt Antwerp Walking Route, stage 16: from Mortsel to Wijnegem

Fortification Belt Antwerp Walking Route, stage 16: from Mortsel to Wijnegem

This stage is part of my Fortification Belt Antwerp Walking Route that will ultimately encompass both the inner and outer belts and will be approximately 200 km long. It starts at the Mortsel Oude God train station and ends at the Wijnegem Shopping Center. It introduces you to Forts 4 (Mortsel), 3 (Borsbeek), and 2 (Wommelgem) of the inner Antwerp Fortification Belt. You will end at Fort 1 in Wijnegem, the only fort that was completely demolished to make way for the Shopping Center. Besides the green fort domains, you will also discover nature areas like Klein Zwitserland, the valley of the Groot Schijn, and the Beemdkant.

Other stages of the Fortification Belt Antwerp Walking Route

* stage 15: from Hoboken to Mortsel
* stage 16: from Mortsel to Wijnegem
* stage 17: from Wijnegem to Merksem

The Antwerp Fortification Belt, an exceptional historical heritage

The Antwerp Fortification Belt consists of an inner belt and an outer belt.

The inner belt was built in 1859 and consists of eight “Brialmont forts” in an 18 km long belt from Wijnegem to Hoboken. This proved insufficient and between 1871-1882 additional forts were built in Merksem, Zwijndrecht, and Kruibeke.

In the same belt lie Forts Lillo and Liefkenshoek, facing each other on both banks of the Scheldt, and slightly further south Forts Sint-Filips and Sint-Marie. They were already built in the 16th century to defend the Antwerp port. Fort Lillo was constructed in 1573 by the rebellious Dutch troops under the leadership of William of Orange, and Fort Liefkenshoek in 1579. Forts Sint-Filips and Sint-Marie were built by the Spanish occupier in the period 1577-1585, as part of the defense during the Eighty Years' War.

After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, it became clear that the inner belt was inadequate, and it was decided to build an outer line adapted to more modern weapons. This was situated 18 km from the city, is 95 km long, and includes 16 forts and 10 redoubts on the right bank, and 5 forts and 2 redoubts on the left bank. Between 1878-1886, the forts of Walem, Lier, Steendorp, and Duffel were built. The rest was constructed just before the First World War but was not yet finished in 1914.

More information about the Antwerp Fortification Belts and their current situation can be found at:
* fortengordels.be
* Stelling van Antwerpen (Wikipedia).