Bitremont Castle
Coordinates: 50 ° 32 ′ 10.9 " N , 3 ° 34 ′ 48.8" E
Bitremont Castle is the ruin of a moated castle west of the village of Bury , a district of the municipality of Péruwelz in Belgium . The A16 motorway runs right next to the castle. Before it was built, the castle was connected to Bury by a straight avenue.
history
Bitremont was already the seat of a seigneury in the 12th century . In the following time it saw numerous owners, including the families of Enghien , Argenteau and Merode . The von Merodes sold the property to the noble family Visart de Bocarmé, whose descendants still play an important role in Belgian politics today. In favor of Louis-François Visart, the rule was raised to a county on September 5, 1753.
The castle's house was badly damaged by a fire in April 1998 and is now in ruins.
Brief description
The structure that still exists today includes two round towers from the 13th century and some outbuildings from the 19th century as well as the ruins of a residential building that was built at the end of the 17th century and in the 18th and 19th century. Century was restored . The buildings are surrounded by a rectangular moat .
Criminal case
Bitremont Castle went down in criminal history through a poisoning in 1850. To prevent his brother-in-law and testator Gustav Fougnies from marrying, Hippolyte Visart de Bocarmé poisoned the visitor with nicotine , which he believed was an alkaloid that was not detectable at the time . However, the investigating magistrate from Tournai , Heughebaert, became suspicious of the chemical burns and commissioned the chemistry professor at the École Royale Militaire in Brussels , Jean Servais Stas , with a detailed investigation. After weeks of experiments, he discovered that alkaloids - unlike all components of a human body - are soluble in both water and alcohol. By washing out and filtering, Stas managed to secure a lethal amount of nicotine.
The subsequent trial in Mons ended with the execution of the murderer in 1851, but his wife was acquitted.