Fort Plassendale
Fort Plassendale is a former fortress, located in Oudenburg, Belgium at the crosspoint of the Ghent-Bruges-Ostend canal and the Plassendale-Nieuwpoort canal. The fortress served during the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648), the War of Devolution (1667–1668), the Franco-Dutch War (1672–1678), the Nine Years' War (1688–1697), the War of Spanish Succession (1701–1713) and the war of Austrian Succession (1740–1748). Due to its location, it was mainly of logistical importance. As of 2025, the only remaining structure is the so-called Spanish Toll House (Dutch: Spaans Tolhuis), which is being restored since 2018. The fortress as a whole was built in commission of the Franc of Bruges, according to the plans made by Pieter Pourbus after the Act of abjuration (1581). It served during six different wars and was demolished shortly after the nearby port of Ostend was declared a Free-trade zone by Joseph II in 1781. Among the permanent residents were inn keepers, brewers, lock keepers, contractors, and boat-pulling people (so-called ketsers). In the inheritance documents of the local population, traces were found of porcelain, brought in by the Ostend trading company, as well as pole vaulting material to jump over ditches and specially designed eel forks.
Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Fort Plassendale (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).Fort Plassendale
Plassendale,
Geographical coordinates (GPS) Address Nearby Places Show on map
Geographical coordinates (GPS)
| Latitude | Longitude |
|---|---|
| N 51.209444444444 ° | E 3.0038888888889 ° |
Address
Plassendale 12
8460 (Oudenburg)
West Flanders, Belgium
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