Candes Saint-Martin, my favourite spot in La Touraine.

Thursday 29 October 2009

We have castles too!

Okay, I admit it. They are not as grand and beautiful as the Loire Valley castles but, here in Belgium, we have some pretty nice historic aristocratic dwellings as well. Today I would like to show you one which isn't really on the tourist maps and I'm not even sure that it's open to the public.

Nevertheless, you will have to admit that it looks very pretty, especially in these autumn settings. I know very little about its history, except that it was probably built some time between the 11th and the 13th century. Even the historians haven't been able to figure it out.

So no trick questions this time .. here it is ... the castle of Crupet in the department or the province (as departments are called in Belgium) of Namur, some 85 km or so South of Brussels.



Click to enlarge, and you'll see a crow or raven in the left top cormer.


Don't you think this would make an excellent stagesetting for a Halloween movie?


____

5 comments:

chm said...

For such a small country, Belgium has a lot to offer, historically, architecturally and culturally. I do hope that one day the language barrier, and whatever lies behind it, will fall once and for all. Time will tell.

That chateau is lovely. Would it be located in the Ardennes?

Keep up with these interesting Belgian posts. I do enjoy them a lot.

Amanda said...

That is a beautiful castle. Are there castles all over Belgium?

Jean said...

The castle looks very homely. Almost as if someone perched a bungalow on top of another building.
Very pretty. I know nothing at all about Belgium, apart from what I have read in your blog, I am almost ashamed to say.

ladybird said...

chm, I think the language barrier/problem is more a political issue than a social one, although there are more and more people, especially in Flanders, who would like to split up the country. Personnally, I think that would be a shame, as the variety of our two cultures makes Belgium so fascinating. I hope I don't live to see the day when Belgium 'explodes' into a tiny independant Flandres and Wallonie.

The part of the country South of the Meuse River is commonly known as the Ardennes, although technically speaking this name only applies to the eastern part (south of LiƩge) of this region.
The village of Crupet is located South of the Meuse River, so people will say that it's in the Ardennes ... although technically speaking it is not.


Nadege, Yes, there are castles all over the country ... Mostly medieval fortresses (often ruins)and 18th-19th century classical castles. There are very few from the 15th-16th century though. The court of Burgundy once took up residence in Brussels but their renaissance castle was destroyed and only the basements remain ... under the busy streets of Brussels.


Jean, Would you be disappointed if I were the post some more about Belgium from time to time ... without neglecting the Loire Valley, of course?

Jean said...

Martine - I would love to read more about Belgium.
We have visited a few times and thought it very interesting but baffling as we couldn't speak any of the language.