The castle made it possible to control the access to the Schelde, the river that flows through Antwerp. It was also used as a prison between 1303 and 1827. This was not the noblest time of existence of the Steen Castle. Captivity itself was not punishment - the prison was where you awaited your sentence. Very popular punishment available was; chopping of hands, heads and/or burning and quartering. The prison’s regime was not a very honest one. The rich were logged in the right wing and the poor in the left wing of the castle. Part of the castle was later demolished to make the roads to connect the south and the north part of the port. The remaining building contains a shipping museum, with outside on displayed on the quay, some real old canal barges.
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