Ship arsenal

Napoleon wanted to transform Antwerp into an operational base for attacking Great Britain. He ordered that massive infrastructure works be carried out. An arsenal for war ships was built on the site of Saint Michael’s Abbey (1124). The former abbey was transformed into an enormous plant, with a shipyard, a smithy and several workshops. Here 32 ships of the line were built from 1803 until 1812. When the French were defeated, they were still working on 13 ships. A new fish market was built on the arsenal’s foundation in Riemstraat at the end of the nineteenth century.