Medieval castles in Belgium
Château des comtes de Mouscron
In the 14th century, the Seigneury of Mouscron was eventually sold to a lord of Tournai, and in 1430, the Castle of the Counts (Château des Comtes) became the lord"s manor, which can still be seen today. In 1575, in the middle of the Wars of Religion, the castle was strengthened. It was nevertheless besieged and taken by the Geuzen, locally known as the Hurlus in 1579, before being taken back three months later. ...
Founded: 15th century |
Location:
Mouscron, Belgium
Solre-sur-Sambre Castle
Solre-sur-Sambre Castle was built around the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries and retains much of the medieval structure. Later in the 14th or 15th century this keep was incorporated in a square castle with circular towers at its four corners. The keep was transformed to a gate tower. It is the property of the Princes de Merode.
Founded: 13th century |
Location:
Erquelinnes, Belgium
Laarne Castle
Laarne Castle is a moated castle established in the 11th or 12th century to guard the approaches to Ghent from the sea. It was comprehensively renovated in the 17th century. Today the castle is partly used as a museum displaying a wonderful collection of tapestries, furniture, weapons and silverware. This beautiful castle is one of the best-preserved fortifications in Flanders.
Founded: 12th century |
Location:
Laarne, Belgium
Antoing Castle
Antoing Castle is one of Belgium"s most original and well-known castles, situated in Antoing in Hainaut. It was first mentioned in the 12th century. Although the present structure of the castle dates from the 13th and 15th centuries, it was redesigned in Neo-Gothic style in the 19th century by the French architect Viollet-le-Duc. The castle at Antoing first belonged to the powerful Melun family, then passed in 1634 ...
Founded: 13th century |
Location:
Antoing, Belgium
Cleydael Castle
Cleydael Castle is a moated castle in Aartselaar originally dating from the 14th century. The four towers are called Fox tower, Chapel tower, Owl tower and Cat tower. The castle was the home of the lords of Cleydael until the end of the 18th century. After being part of the golf course, it is now private property again.
Founded: 14th century |
Location:
Aartselaar, Belgium
Crupet Keep
The keep of Crupet Castle was built in the 13th century and originally consisted of a square tower surrounded by a moat. The entrance was probably protected by a drawbridge and portcullis. In the 16th century, the keep was converted to a manor house. A corner tower was added, the windows were enlarged, and the timber top floor and roof were built. The drawbridge was probably also replaced at this time. The keep is not ope ...
Founded: 13th century |
Location:
Crupet, Belgium
Elst Castle Ruins
Elst castle ruins in Duffel is one of the oldest buildings in the province of Antwerp. The oldest reference dates from the 12th century. At that time castle was owned by the brothers Hildincshusen. From 1356 until the French Revolution in 1789 the castle was owned by the Tongerlo Abbey and was inhabited by the steward. It was also used as a residence for the nobility. In 1584 the castle burned down and was then rebuilt. I ...
Founded: 12th century |
Location:
Duffel, Belgium
Walzin Castle
Walzin Castle is located over the river Lesse near Dinant. Construction began in the 13th century, and the 15th-century Renaissance horseshoe tower with four cannon ports still exists, even though the castle was burned down by the French army in 1554. There were several restorations later, the latest by Baron Fréderic Brugman between 1930 and 1932. Victor Hugo made a drawing of it in 1863.
Founded: 15th century |
Location:
Dinant, Belgium
Prinsenkasteel
Prinsenkasteel ('Prince Castle') was founded in the 14th century by the lords of Grimbergen. The current castle buildings were constructed by Filips Frans van Glymes in the late 17th century. Today the ruins are surrounded by a moat.
Founded: 14th century |
Location:
Grimbergen, Belgium
Montquintin Castle
Montquintin Castle was probably originally designed to defend the southern border of the counts of Chiny. It was built in the 11th century by order of Louis II, Count of Chiny (born 1025). Over the centuries the castle has undergone many changes. The central part was rebuilt the 18th centuryt by the Bishop of Hontheim, last owner. In 1869 a fire destroyed the castle. The basement includes a vaulted cellar, which is ver ...
Founded: 11th century |
Location:
Rouvroy, Belgium
Florennes Castle
The Florennes Castle is located on a rocky ridge that stretches westward from the center of the old town of Florennes. There are early records of construction of a wooden castle in Florennes in 842. In 944 Count Eilbert replaced the wooden building with a stone castle surrounded by walls. The town and castle became a fief of the Prince-Bishopric of Liège in 1070. The powerful Rumigny-Florennes family held the castle as ...
Founded: 944 AD |
Location:
Florennes, Belgium
Castle of the Princes de Mérode
Castle of the Princes de Mérode, also called as 'old castle', has been the home of the House of Merode since more than five centuries. The central keep or Donjon was built in local brown stone in the 14th-century. It probably replaced an older fortress on the same spot. Other parts of the building date from the 16th century. The castle was adapted, extended and restorated several times. From the 16th century onwards it w ...
Founded: 14th century |
Location:
Westerlo, Belgium
Herbeumont Castle
Built on top of a rocky outcrop overlooking the village and the Semois Valley, the medieval ruins of Herbeumont castle offer a splendid panorama of the river and its meanders. The first stones of the fortress were laid by Jean of Rochefort, of the House of Walcourt. From one century to another, it will belong to other families: Orgeo, Marck-Rochefort, Stolberg and Löwestein. Building it on this peak meant the castle c ...
Founded: 1268 |
Location:
Herbeumont, Belgium
Poeke Castle
Poeke Castle was built in 1875 to the site of older castle. Standing in 56 hectares (140 acres) of park, it is surrounded by water and is accessible through bridges at the front and rear of the building. It is unknown when the first fortification was constructed at Poeke, but references to it appear from 1139 onwards. The castle played a prominent role during the conflict between Count Louis II of Flanders and the city o ...
Founded: 1452/1875 |
Location:
Aalter, Belgium
Anvaing Castle
Anvaing Castle (Château d"Anvaing or Château de Lannoy) is a historic residence in Frasnes-lez-Anvaing. The site has been occupied by a castle since the time of the First Crusade. The first known reference dates from 1127. There is little documentation of the buildings on the site however until the reconstructions of 1561 and 1800. The owners were apparently the Roubaix family, judging from the arms on an early pa ...
Founded: 1561 |
Location:
Frasnes-lez-Anvaing, Belgium
Faulx-les-Tombes Castle
Faulx-les-Tombes Castle (Château de Faulx-les-Tombes) is a 19th-century château in Faulx-les-Tombes in the municipality of Gesves. The first castle on the site was built in the 13th century and was a dependency of the County of Namur. In about 1340 it passed into the ownership of the Marbaix family. After several further changes in ownership it became the property of the Corswaren family in 1665 and remained theirs un ...
Founded: 13th century |
Location:
Gesves, Belgium
Renesse Castle
Willem van Berchem built the first Renesse Castle at Malle between 1431 and 1464. Nothing remains of this original castle, and the only remaining visible vestiges are the donjon which now is the articulation point of the castle and the so-called tournament beam which is now placed above the fireplace in the knight room. In 1459 his daughter Elisabeth married Wouter van Hamal, who thereby inherited the Oostmalle domain, an ...
Founded: 1431/1545 |
Location:
Malle, Belgium
Roly Castle
Roly Castle is a château-ferme, or fortified farmhouse, in Roly in the municipality of Philippeville. The existence of a fortification, in the form of a tower, is recorded here as early as 1069, but the present donjon dates from the 13th century, and this is the oldest extant part of the buildings. Major restorations and reconstructions took place in 1616 and between 1746 and 1749, and as of 2010 the buildings are agai ...
Founded: 13th century |
Location:
Philippeville, Belgium
Sombreffe Castle
Sombreffe Castle was built in the early the 13th century as a simple keep pertaining to the Lords of Orbais. It was a border fortress of the duchy of Brabant. Later in the 13th century the Lords of Orbais surrounded the keep with a circular curtain wall. This wall was equipped with several towers, a gate and a secondary keep. In 1446 the castle passed to the Vernembourg family by marriage. They kept the castle until 1543 ...
Founded: 13th century |
Location:
Sombreffe, Belgium
Elewijt Castle
Elewijt Castle originates from the 11th century when there was a wooden fortification. The stone castle was erected around 1300. The castle is also known as Rubenskasteel because it was owned by Peter Paul Rubens from 1635 to his death in 1640, and features in some of his paintings. In 1792 the castle was converted into a state prison. Nowadays, the castle is privately owned, not open for visits but rented for events.
Founded: c. 1300 |
Location:
Elewijt, Belgium