Castle Beloeil (Belgium)

Castle Beloeil (Belgium)

The history of this castle goes back to the beginning of the 12th century when there was already a small castle on this spot built by the Lords of Beloeil.

The rich and noble family ‘de Ligne’ enlarged and beautified the edifice in 1394.
The old castle was a fortified rectangular building with a moat surrounding it and had four round towers, one at each angle.
This basic structure is still preserved, although the facades and interiors were greatly altered during the following centuries.

The castle is largely inspired by 17th century French baroque architecture.
Still it keeps a bit of its medieval pride because of the four corner towers.

During the New Year's celebration of 1900, disaster struck the castle when it burned down completely.
However, most of the furnishings, including the library with 20.000 rare books and handwritten historical manuscripts and the priceless art collection were saved (thanks to the great efforts and help from the local people of Beloeil).

The castle was rebuilt in 1906.

The ‘de Ligne’ family still lives in the castle without interruption since the 14th century.