Waterpoort (Antwerp)

The Waterpoort (also known as Porta Regia, and Coninckxpoort) is a triumphal arch located in the Zuiderdokken, Zuid Antwerp. The monument was originally a water gate on the Scheldt river.

Waterpoort on the Gedempte Zuiderdokken, seen from the Kasteelstraat.

Waterpoort

When this arch was originally built on the Scheldt, it functioned as a passage to the river from the fortified wall that protected the city of Antwerp.[1] Boats could get to the Vlasmarkt from the Scheldt side through this passage.[2] The gate was sculpted by Hubert van den Eynde, with the help of Hans van Mildert[3][4] as a honorary gate to king Philip IV. Inscriptions on both sides of the gate indicate its function as both a waterpoort and an honorary arch to Philip IV.[4][2] The arch was erected in 1624.[1][2][4] The design of the gate has been attributed to Peter Paul Rubens, although, as opposed to the identity of the sculptors (Van den Eynde and Mildert), there is no hard evidence of Rubens' involvement.[2][4]

The arch was originally built as a water gate and entrance to the Vlasmarkt. Following works on the Scheldt quays, the gate was moved to the Sint-Jansvliet in the 1880s. When, in 1933, the entrance building of the new Sint-Anna pedestrian tunnel had to be built in that location, the gate was moved again. In 1936 it was eventually rebuilt on the Gillisplaats in the Zuid, on the Zuiderdokken.

Because it was moved twice, the arch is nicknamed 'the walking gate'.[1]