Villers-sur-Lesse castle
The castle Villers-sur-Lesse ( French Château de Villers-sur-Lesse ) is located in the district of Villers-sur-Lesse in the Belgian municipality of Rochefort in the Walloon province of Namur .
history
The castle of Villers-sur-Lesse was mentioned for the first time in 1316. Originally the land around Villers belonged to the Lords of Celles. Through the marriage of Catherine de Celles to Itel-Frederic von Merode in 1637, the property passed to the Counts of Merode, lords of Ossogne-lez-Havelange. Eventually the property fell to his cousin, the Marquis de Merode-Deinze, and was sold to Gideon Desandrouin before 1733.
Gideon Desandrouin was a wealthy businessman in the early industrialization of the glass, coal and metal industries in the Charleroi region . He already owned other noble residences, such as the Lodelinsart Castle, Heppignies House and Lombois House. The German Emperor made him Viscount in 1733, shortly before his death in his Lodelinsart estate .
After the death of his father, Jean-Jacques Desandrouin inherited the estate. He married first Marie-Charlotte de Houelle de Pommeray in second marriage then Jourdaine Le Tirant de Villers, the daughter of the Marquis Louis de Villers.
In 1857 the castle was partially devastated by a fire. One wing remained destroyed and only the right wing was rebuilt. In 1892, the Belgian King Leopold II bought the 37 hectare estate, some of which was planted with rare trees, from Count Ferdinand and Felix von Cunchy and combined it with his 1640 hectare estate of Domaine Ardennes very close by. The royal summer palace is located on a hill within sight. Leopold wanted to make Villers-sur-Lesse the summer residence for the future dukes of Brabant. The castle has belonged to the Royal Trust since 1903.
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://royalementblog.blogspot.de/2011/08/le-chateau-de-villers-sur-lesse.html , accessed on August 18, 2012.
Coordinates: 50 ° 9 '14.9 " N , 5 ° 6' 44.4" E