Geeraard de Duivelsteen

Ghent, Belgium, Belgium

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Geeraard de Duivelsteen, usually called “the Castle of Gerald the Devil,” is a 13th‑century medieval stone building in Ghent, Belgium, located on the bank of the Scheldt at Geraard de Duivelstraat 1.

It was originally built around 1225 as a fortified “steen” (a noble’s stone house) to defend the old port of Portus Ganda, and it was named after the knight Geeraard van Gent, nicknamed “de Duivel” because of his dark skin and hair. The complex combines a Romanesque‑Gothic core from the 13th century with later additions, including a large crypt on columns, two tall side halls, a donjon (tower), flanking turrets and many slender pointed‑arch windows that give the building both a defensive and a comfortable residential appearance.

Over the centuries the Duivelsteen served many different functions: as a noble residence, armory, monastery, school, bishops’ seminary, mental asylum, prison, fire station and, from 1904 until 2014, as the national archives of Belgium. After a major restoration at the end of the 19th century and another renovation in 2025, the building is now privately owned and used for temporary cultural projects and innovation activities, while its exterior remains one of the most striking medieval structures in Ghent and a key example of early feudal architecture in the city.