Feluy Castle, locally known as Château-fort de Feluy, lies in the village of the same name, in the province of Hainaut in the Wallonia region in Belgium.

Feluy Castle was built in the 1380's on the orders of Eustache de Bousies, probably on the site of an earlier fortification. In 1489 it was besieged and taken by the troops of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, led by Albert III, Duke of Saxony.

The castle remained however in the hands of the De Bousies family until 1548. Then it went to the Rubempré family through marriage. In 1576 it went to the De Renesse family through inheritance. Because of the damages the castle had suffered during the wars in the 16th century, René de Renesse rebuilt the castle in 1615. The De Renesse family owned Feluy Castle until 1658. Then Feluy Castle went to the De Berghes family through marriage.

During the Franco-Dutch War, in 1674, William III of Orange and his troops camped at the castle before the Battle of Seneffe. During the Nine Years' War the castle was taken multiple times by French troops. In 1692 the Duke of Luxembourg set up headquarters in Feluy Castle and later pillaged it. After that the castle switched hands between the wars' adversaries multiple times.

In 1720 the last of the De Berghes died and Feluy Castle was inherited by the d'Albert family. In 1774 the castle was acquired by the Countess  d'Isendoorn à Blois. By then the castle was devastated by the wars and the soldiers that had been garrisoned there. She had the castle completely rebuilt. From the moated polygonal medieval castle only the gate tower, part of a corner tower and the curtain wall between them remained. She had a new mansion built on the castle island in 1777.

Several other owners followed but by 1972 the castle was in a state of dilapidation. A thorough restoration followed.

At present Feluy Castle is used for cultural purposes and weddings. 


https://www.castles.nl/feluy-castle

Feluy Castle

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Le château de La Follie, situé au bord de la Sennette, à Écaussinnes-d'Enghien en province de Hainaut (Belgique), est un manoir du xvie siècle construit sur les fondations d'un ancien château fort (xive siècle).

Historique

Si le bâtiment actuel n'est pas plus ancien que le xvie siècle, des fouilles effectuées en 1928 par Pierre de Lichtervelde ont permis de découvrir d'anciennes douves de deux siècles plus anciennes. L'ancien château avait allure de forteresse avec quatre tours rondes avec mâchicoulis reliées entre elles par des murs de trois mètres d'épaisseur, le tout formant un solide quadrilatère. Circonscrit de douves, son entrée était défendue par un pont-levis.

Sous le château actuel se trouvent d'immenses caves voutées, où l'on peut encore voir les fondations des quatre tours d'angle aujourd'hui disparues. La présence d'une cheminée donne à penser que ces lieux étaient encore habitables au xive siècle. Au xvie siècle, pour la construction du nouveau château, le pavement fut surélevé, rendant ces pièces totalement souterraines.

Kasteel van La Follie

The castle of Ecaussinnes-Lalaing developed early in the Middle Ages thanks to its strategic position on a rocky promontory overhanging the valley of the Sennette, at the boundaries of the County of Hainaut with the Duchy of Brabant.

The first mention of a stone castle was in the 12th century. in 1357, Joan, daughter of Hoste of Ecaussinnes, marries Simon of Lalaing, Grand Bailiff of Hainault and Seneschal of Ostrevant. Simon became lord of Ecaussinnes upon his father-in-law's death. The line of Lalaing would give the second part of its name to the castle and village. The castle was however to pass briefly to another family, after the daughter and only heir of Simon III, Mary, espoused John I of Croÿ, Count of Chimay and Grand Bailiff of Hainault.

The house of Croÿ would rule over Ecaussinnes from 1476 to 1529. John I transformed the defensive fortress into a residential castle worthy of his rank of councillor of the Duke of Burgundy. When he died in 1516, the castle passed to his brother James, Bishop of Cambrai, who sold it to his nephew Charles, first Prince of Chimay. His daughter, Margaret, inherited Ecaussinnes. She married Charles of Lalaing, thus bringing back the seigneury to their former lords.

After troubled times during the Spanish occupation of the Southern Netherlands, Florent of Berlaymont and his wife Margaret of Ecaussinnes-Lalaing sold the estate in 1624 to Philip van der Burch. The new owner had been a magistrate of the court of justice of Bruges, and had recently been appointed Grand Bailiff of Hainault by the Archdukes of Austria Albert and Isabella. It is interesting to note that when the castle passed into the houses of Lalaing and Croÿ, the first new occupants also held the same position of Grand Bailiff of Hainault.

For 230 years the castle of Ecaussinnes-Lalaing was the home of the van der Burch. Antoine-Félicien van der Burch (1670- 1736) did a lot to improve the castle's appearance, such as laying out the gardens. He was granted the title of count by Emperor Charles VI.

When Count Charles van der Burch died in 1854, the new Napoleonic law prohibiting to bequeath all or most of one's properties to one child at the expense of the others, the heirs were forced to sell the castle to divide. It was acquired by the Duke of Arenberg, who only rented out the land and left the castle uninhabited.

Occupied by the German, then Canadian troops during the First World War, the castle narrowly escaped from being transformed by industrialists into working-class housing units after the war. Canon priest Puissant started some renovations, then convinced Count Adrien van der Burch, a descendent of the past proprietors, to purchase the castle and restore it to its former glory.

The count's son having died during WWII, and lacking other relatives, he created the "van der Burch Foundation" in order to preserve the castle after his death, which occured six years later. The president of the foundation is now the Professor Cauchies from the UCL. the castle is inhabited by Count Robert d'Ursel, administrator of the foundation, and his wife, who is vice-president.



https://www.eupedia.com/belgium/ecaussines-lalaing.shtml

Écaussinnes-Lalaing Castle


Le domaine de La Tournette date de l'ère romaine. A cette époque, l'agriculture y était déjà florissante et une grande villa romaine y avait été construite. Ses terres s'étendaient entre le Nord-Ouest de Nivelles et le Centre d'Ittre.

Les bâtiments actuels datent du début du 16ème siècle, dont le château et la ferme servaient de résidence d'été et de pavillon de chasse. Les 300 dernières années ont vu de nombreuses modifications des bâtiments et ce, entre autres, à cause de dommages occasionnés par un incendie important.

En 1988, des investisseurs projetaient de construire un club de golf de prestige sur le domaine de 130 ha. Mais c’est seulement depuis 1994, sous l’impulsion de la famille actuellement propriétaire, que le rêve s’est matérialisé.

Deux parcours "championship" de normes internationales les plus élevées furent créés, ainsi qu'un troisième terrain compact de 9 trous, un driving range et plusieurs greens d'entraînement.

Le Château devient un Clubhouse incluant des vestiaires, une bibliothèque, une salle de bridge, un bar, deux restaurants et des salles de séminaires et de réunions. Dans les bâtiments annexes, furent aménagés un Pro Shop, des bureaux et une école de golf.

En 2006, les infrastructures ont encore une fois été totalement rénovées: le Clubhouse redessiné, des nouvelles cuisines aménagées, une orangerie et un vaste parking construits, des cours intérieures arborées, la terrasse remodelée, ...

Aujourd’hui, le Golf Château de la Tournette offre à ses Membres et à ses invités l’un des plus beaux et plus prestigieux environnements golfiques du royaume, un Club fier d’être considéré comme une référence en Belgique, par la communauté (inter)nationale de golf.

http://www.tournette.com/histoire/4571925528

Château de la Tournette

The village of Bois-Seigneur-Isaac owes its name to Isaac of Valenciennes, member of an illustrious family of the county of Hainault, who towards the end of the 11th century planted nearby a wood. This wood named “Bois planté” still exists today at a distance of about 500 meters from the castle on the road to Lillois.

The castle, which goes back probably to the 12th century, was part of a series of fortresses aimed at protecting an enclave of the County of Hainault against the expansionist ambitions of the Dukes of Brabant. The domain and the castle of Bois-Seigneur-Isaac belonged successively to the families of Huldenberg, Dave and Sainte-Aldegonde. At the end of the 17th century, a serious succession conflict opposed the heirs to Agnes de Dave, the last Countess of Sainte-Aldegonde. 40 years of litigation led to the ruin of all the parties and to the sale of the domain, which was purchased in 1712 by Sir Antoine de Belhomme, Receiver General of the Taxes for the County of Hainault, He and his wife, Marie-Thérèse Rouillon de Castaigne, together with their architect, Hannotaux, transformed the medieval fortress into a country house, built upon three sides of the former polygonal castle. Where the drawbridge once stood, a new front was built between 1730 and 1740, with particularly harmonious classical façade, ornamented with large windows with semicircular arches and surmounted by a triangular pediment. The moat was dried up on the Western side of the castle while it was filled in with earth on the Eastern side.  The round tower on the Southern side remains, with its loop-holes, the only witness of the medieval fortress.

In 1810, Joséphine Cornet de Grez, great-grand-daughter of Antoine and Marie-Thérèse de Belhomme and heiress of the domain married Baron Idesbalde-François Snoy et d’Oppuers. Further to this marriage, the older branch of the Snoy family, descended from the Counts of Gelderland in the Netherlands and established since 1563 in the region of Mechlin, moved to Bois-Seigneur-Isaac, transporting there its archives and its remarkable collection of family portraits.

Since 1810, five generations of the Snoy family have inhabited the castle. The Baron and later Count (1982) Jean-Charles Snoy et d’Oppuers (1907-1991) was an important Belgian and European statesman : as Secretary General of the Belgian Ministry of Economic Affairs, he negotiated and signed in March 1957 the Treaty of Rome, creating the European Economic Community; between 1968 and 1972, he was Minister of Finance. Baron Bernard Snoy, son of Jean-Charles Snoy, and his wife, Christine de Weck are the present owners of the castle.



https://bois-seigneur-isaac.be/en/the-chateau/history.html

Kasteel van Bois-Seigneur-Isaac

Trazegnies Castle is a castle located in Trazegnies, Courcelles in the Belgian province of Hainaut.

History
Trazegnies was originally a powerful independent seigneurie on the edges of the Duchy of Brabant, the County of Hainaut and the Prince-Bishopric of Liège and was ruled by a separate dynasty. The original castle was built by Gilles I in the 11th Century but was almost completely destroyed in 1554 by the armies of Henry II of France during the Italian War of 1551–1559. Subsequently rebuilt, a corps de logis was added to the castle by Gillion-Othon de Trazegnies in the Louis XIII style in the 17th Century.

The extinction of the Trazegnies dynasty led to the sale of the castle to a coal mine which partitioned off its land, leaving the castle itself to the Belgian state. It had become derelict by 1926 and suffered severe damage from subsidence as a result of underground mining. However, a civic association called the "Friends of Trazegnies Castle" (Les Amis du Château de Trazegnies) successfully opposed its destruction and began a gradual programme of restoration with the support of the Walloon Region. The castle is currently open to the public on designated days.

Kasteel van Trazegnies

Braine Castle is a castle in Braine-le-Château, Walloon Brabant, Belgium.

In 649 the Abbess of Mons St. Waudru ceded her "land of Ittre", including Braine, to the Chapter of Mons. Accordingly, Braine had an odd political status since it remained a small enclave of the County of Hainaut within the County of Leuven, part of the Duchy of Brabant. Braine-le-Château was owned by several feudal families. The domain was bought by Jean de Hornes in 1434 and by Lamoral II Claudius Franz, Count of Thurn and Taxis in 1670.

Braine-le-Château is named after a castle (château) built in the place called "Les Monts". In the 11th–12th century, two twinned big artificial hills (mottes) were erected on the top of a spur dominating a village set up on the rivier Hain. Such a twin structure is very infrequent north of the river Loire.
The castle of Braine existed until 1722 but was rebuilt in different places according to the increase of the village. In the beginning of the 13th century, the lords of Trazegnies, owners of the domain, left the spur and built a squarish castle in the middle of a marshy area; the castle was surrounded by a triple barrier made by the marshes, the rivers and the moats. The castle, located in the heart of the village, was used to control the road Nivelles-Halle. In the 16th century, the castle was made less defensive and more pleasant to live in by suppressing the southern wing and increasing the size of the windows, allowing the sun to light the rooms. The castle was burned in 1667 and revamped in 1681, with the addition of a monumental gate. Count Eugène Gaspard de Robiano purchased the castle in 1835 and his descendants still live there.

Kasteel van Braine-le-Château

Le château de Fontaine-l'Évêque également connu sous le nom de château Bivort se situe à Fontaine-l'Évêque, ville belge, dans la province de Hainaut.

Histoire
La seigneurie de Fontaine, située à la frontière du Hainaut et de Liège, relève de la famille Hennin-Liétard jusqu'en 1596. Reconstruit en grande partie après 1554, le château conserve néanmoins son enceinte du xiiie siècle et la chapelle gothique.

Le château passe ensuite par plusieurs maisons. Vers 1674, Michel-Luc Camille de Rodoan construit le portail et la façade actuelle de la chapelle. L'aile résidentielle des xvie et xviie siècles est prolongée dans la première moitié du xviiie siècle. Le domaine est ruiné à la fin du xviiie siècle.

Il est racheté en 1864 par Clément Bivort de la Saudée qui complète l'aile d'habitation, puis par la commune de Fontaine-l'Évêque en 1946.

En 1869, l'architecte Auguste Cador entreprend une restauration, mêlée d'esprit néo-médiéval, épurée lors des travaux menés en 1954 par Simon Brigode.

Kasteel van Fontaine-l'Évêque

Havré Castle is a ruined castle in the village of Havré in the town of Mons, province of Hainaut, Belgium.

History
The origins of the castle can be only traced back to the year 1226, even the counts of Flanders and Hainaut have had control over Havré since the 11th century. In 1255 Ida of Mons was married to Engelbert d'Enghien. Their descendants keep Havré Castle to the year 1423. Then Gérard d'Enghien passes the Castle on to Christophe d'Harcourt. Through marriage, the castle came into the possession of the families Dunan, Longeville and Croy.

In 1518 Philip II de Croÿ commander of Emperor Charles V, became the owner of the castle. By 1537 he was in charge of County of Hainault as grand baliff and governor. Phillipe married on 9 August 1548 Anna of Lorraine (* July 25, 1522, † May 15, 1568) as his second wife, a daughter of the Duke Anton II of Lorraine. He died before the birth of his son Charles-Philippe ( 1 September 1549 - Brussels † 25 November 1613 - in Burgundy ). Wounded by a musket Charles-Philippe was treated by Ambroise Paré at Castle Havré, who was the first surgeon to French King Charles IX and a prominent surgeon of his time.

In 1578, the castle underwent its roughest period with siege by the armies of Don Juan de Austria and the Duke of Anjou. The castle was kept without much damage. Unfortunately, in 1579 a fire was fierce and devastating burning the castle to the walls.

During the seventeenth century it is Charles Alexander, Duke of Croy, who would restore the castle and make it one of the most magnificent castles of pleasure in Belgium, where many royals and famous artists of the time liked to stay.

Shortly after the French invasion of 1792, it was quickly sold as national property. Despite its acquisition in 1807 by the family of Croy, the castle was gradually abandoned.

Finally at the beginning of the twentieth century what was left, the castle due to negligence from 1930 transformed into ruins.





Havré Castle


Château de Louvignies is a castle located 6 kilometers from Soignies, in Hainaut Province of Belgium. It was designated as the seat of a lordship in 1389 and was acquired in 1716 by the Governor of Charleroi, Rodrigo de Peralta, who built a castle surrounded by a moat. In 1767, the structure was modernized with a basement addition, a tower and a ground floor stuccoed room decorated to 18th-century tastes. In 1798, through marriage, the castle became the stronghold of the Villegas Family.

The English garden, designed on the plan of a park was created in May, 1834 by C. Th. Petersen, probably at the request of Balthazar de Villegas.It became the home of Count Léon de Villegas de Saint-Pierre when he gave up a diplomatic career to become mayor of Chaussée-Notre-Dame-Louvignies,[1] after his marriage in 1868 to Marie-Ferdinande de Maillin. In 1870 the Count began a massive renovation of the property, hiring Désiré Limbourg as the architect to renovate the buildings and Louis Fuchs, as the landscape architect. After the purchase of additional land, drainage and backfilling of surrounding moats, 600 trees were planted in 1871. The following year a pond, spanned by two bridges, was created and the cooling house was built. In 1873, paths and lawns were completed, and the park was fenced and gated. Between 1874 and 1875, the Marsh Chapel was built, followed by a stable wing and carriage house.

The castle itself was restructured between 1878 and 1882. The tower was enlarged to dominate the north side and the southern facing wing was doubled in size. A new wing on the ground floor contained state rooms, a lounge and dining room and the eastern wing was extended adding turrets and modern amenities. The entrance beneath a wide porch, which had formerly been on the west at the end of the bridge over the moat, was moved to the southern façade overlooking the park. Upon entering the vestibule, rooms branched to the right into the welcoming parlor and to the left into the pool room with a large sweeping staircase. The staircase was festooned with metal railings and motifs of the Villegas Family arms. The interior was remodeled but the fireplaces and painted areas above the doors were restored. The upstairs bedrooms with baths stood on either side of a central hallway. The kitchen and service areas were located in the basement and dumbwaiters were installed. Radiators were later added and electricity was installed in 1897.

At present the grounds are open from May to November. The interior design, furniture and household items which belonged to the Villegas Family have been preserved in the home. It is representative of the Belle Epoque period. The property has been featured in several films, including Claude Berri's Germinal, François Ozon's Angel and François-Xavier Vives' film Landes, featuring Marie Gillain. An exhibit, featuring former resident Maria de Villegas de Saint-Pierre, daughter of Count Léon de Villegas de Saint-Pierre, who grew up in the home and was a nurse during World War I was also featured in the home.

Château de Louvignies


Mr Constant Theys book “The History of Dworp” teaches us that the castle goes back to 1649.

The present structure has been built by Mr Ignaas Le Roy, who ordered to build the castle east of the farmhouse that already existed under the name “Borchthoeve” with “Den Toren”. This tower was then one of the remains of the “Kesterbeek” domain that we find also in the acts of 1438 and 1558. The castle as it is today is a renovation of the ancient one. There was the master’s house, the big (inner) court and all the wings surrounded by water. The lift bridge gave entrance to the house. Above the door we can still see the escutcheon of the family Le Roy.

The castle, house and farm included, was destroyed on 17 February 1684 by the army of Louis XIV. Jaak Landelijn Le Roy, son of Ignaas, had it rebuilt. The remains of the restored castle are : the central part with the square tower, based on 4 pillars with 4 arches and a remake of the castle, burnt down in 1684.

Later in 1693, he sold the castle to Pieter Fraiseau for the price of 26.000 florins.

In 1725 Pieter Robyns took possession of the house and after his death in 1728 his wife remarried the knight Willem de Hemptines. On his request, the Dworp domain was ennobled to the barony by the king in 1757.

The son-in-law of Baron de Hemptines, count Gommart de Crez, inherited all the lands and the entire property after his wife’s death without children. In this way, the Dworp domain came into the possession of the family Cornet de Crez.

We find their escutcheon with 3 horns in the weathercock of the donjon (castle tower). This escutcheon has also been incorporated in the new emblem of the Gravenhof castle. It was not before 1870 that the side wings with the four corner towers were added. On the same occasion they had the canals filled in the front.

Meanwhile the castle passed from family to family according to the succession principles.

Eventually the last heiress of the family Cornet de Crez, the baroness of Anetham rented the castle to the Brussels family Wauquez.

During the First World War the Germans have occupied the castle. Thereafter the family could repossess it. During the Second World War it has again been occupied by German generals and after the liberation soviet prisoners took their place, followed by the Foster Parents Plan for war children. Afterwards the castle remained mostly uninhabited. As a matter of fact, the castle hadn’t been looked after since the First World War and as a consequence looked dreary at that time.

Particularly the lack of maintenance works as to the roof and the sewerage and the failing lighting system accelerated the castle’s decline. It went on his way till 9 August 1959, when Mr Piet Demol, who had been dreaming of this castle from his early youth, could finally take possession of it.

He bought the castle with the 4,5 hectares surroundings from baroness of Anethan. The remaining 18 hectares have been purchased by the F.I.V.B. (Federale Immobiliën Vennootschap van het Bouwbedrijf = Federal Immovable Partnership of the Building Industry) who planned to parcel it out into 136 building lots. On July I 1960, the castle was opened to the public and was named Gravenhof, according to the different counts who had been living in the castle. It became a place for family celebrations, receptions, meeting and study centres, besides 26 rooms and 56 beds.

On May I 1988 Gravenhof S.A. has been taken over by the Van Wonterghem house, who promised to render it all its glory by renovation and by adjusting the comfort of the rooms and the hotel to the modern standards.

http://www.gravenhof.be/en/historiek