Kastell Loevestein Poederoyen

Kasteel Loevestein, in the little town of Poederoyen in Gelderland, is located at the junction of the Maas and Waal rivers. Loevestein is a water fortress. It was built in the period from 1357 to 1368. The six-hundred-year-old castle was originally built as a penitentiary. If you visit Loevestein, be sure to take a look at the room where Hugo de Groot was imprisoned for two years. This Rotterdam scholar managed to make a spectacular escape from Kasteel Loevestein in 1621 by hiding in a bookcase and being smuggled out.