Ruien / Canals

The Antwerp “ruien” served as a defence for the medieval city as well as a water supply, a place to dispose of refuse and an open sewer. In the course of the sixteenth century, the city was fed up with the odour nuisance and decided to cover the canals. The covering was stimulated by allowing people to build houses for free over the ruien. The canals were only fully covered in the nineteenth century. From the end of the twentieth century, most of the wastewater was drained out of the city through sewage pipes instead of through the canals. Nowadays the public can visit part of the canals in Ruihuis.