- Type
- Castle
- Origins
- 10th century per Wikidata: founding, first mention or construction
- Coordinates
- 50.2195°, 4.9233°
History
The stronghold on a rocky spur more than 50 metres above the Lesse was founded in the 11th century to watch over a ford on one of the roads leading north to Dinant, serving as an advanced outpost of the town. Its lords were vassals of the prince-bishops of Liège, so the castle was repeatedly besieged and damaged in their wars with Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy in 1466 and with Maximilian of Habsburg, whose troops took it in 1489. Around 1480 it sheltered William de La Marck, known as the Boar of the Ardennes, and in 1554, during the war between Charles V and Henry II, Francis I of Cleves, Duke of Nevers, made it his headquarters. In 1581 Adrienne de Brandenbourg-Berlaymont rebuilt the ruined parts and enlarged the castle, and in 1793 it was badly damaged by the French revolutionary armies, which also burnt its archives. From 1850 it belonged to the Brugmann family, who had it remodelled in 1881 to designs by Émile Janlet and again in 1930–1932 by Octave Flanneau in the regional Mosan style, which gave it its present appearance.
What to see
The castle and its estate are privately owned and not open to visitors. The building, with a frontage over 100 metres long rising straight from the rock, can be seen clearly from the Lesse valley, especially from the popular kayak route downstream towards the Meuse. The estate, set in the Bois du Chaleux woodland, includes listed gardens laid out by Louis Julien Breydel, who also designed the Botanical Garden in Brussels.
Wikipedia article Wikidata Q2971064
Popularity: articles about this site in 9 Wikimedia projects (Wikipedia language editions and others).