Loevestein

Loevestein Castle or Castle Loevestein is a fortified moated castle in the municipality of Zaltbommel, the Netherlands.

Beginning of the 14th century was a first castle, which consisted only of a watchtower, built as border and customs station of the county of Holland and funds in a strategic point, the confluence of the Waal and the Meuse. At this point, then ship duty was collected.

The medieval core still preserved, the castle was built in the sixties of the 14th century by the Knights Dirk Loef van Horne, a vassal of Albrecht I of Bavaria at the same time Count of Holland. In the Eighty Years' War, the revolt of the Netherlands against Spanish rule, the castle was conquered in 1572 by the Beggars under William I of Orange, surrounded by walls and covered with a crew, for within the enceinte houses were built.

The medieval buildings of the castle were transformed into a prison. This was held prisoner sentenced, inter alia, to life in prison by the House of Orange of Hugo Grotius. However, in 1621 he managed to escape from there. In the 17th century the castle was expanded into a pentagonal fortress and included in the Dutch Waterline, a floodable line of defense. In the 18th century the castle fell gradually, parts collapsed. After the First World War, the castle was restored. Since 1925 located in the building a National Museum.

The castle is one of the venues of Alexandre Dumas novel The Black Tulip ( " La Tulipe noire ").