Attre Castle (''Château d'Attre'') is a former

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

, now a country house or

château A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Nowaday ...

, in Attre in the municipality of

Brugelette Brugelette (; pcd, Brujlete; wa, Brudjlete) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. On January 1, 2006, Brugelette had a total population of 3,284. The total area is which gives a population density of . The ...

province of Hainaut Hainaut (, also , , ; nl, Henegouwen ; wa, Hinnot; pcd, Hénau), historically also known as Heynowes in English, is a province of Wallonia and Belgium. To its south lies the French department of Nord, while within Belgium it borders (clock ...

Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

History

The present château at Attre was built in the middle of the 18th century by Count François Philippe Franeau d’Hyon van Gomegnies, on the foundations of a medieval castle that had been in the hands of the family since 1520. The structural work was finished in 1752, and Count François died shortly after in 1755. His son François Ferdinand Franeau d’Hyon continued the work of his father and saw to it that the interior decorations were finished. It took more than 30 years before the interior was completely decorated. The present building is in a Neo-Classical style and the interiors are French, mainly

Louis Quinze The Louis XV style or ''Louis Quinze'' (, ) is a style of architecture and decorative arts which appeared during the reign of Louis XV. From 1710 until about 1730, a period known as the Régence, it was largely an extension of the Louis XIV style ...

. In addition to the landscaped garden and the forest park, it is home to several melancholic "follies", such as the Belvédère tower ruins, the 15th century dovecote, the hermitage, the Vignou tower, the Swiss chalet, the bath pavilion, "le Rocher", an artificial cave.

Sources

Belgian Castles: Attre

Castles in Belgium Castles in Hainaut (province) Wallonia's Major Heritage {{Belgium-castle-stub

History

See also

Sources