Château des Amerois, résidence du comte de Flandre

The Château des Amerois () is a 19th-century neo-gothic style castle in the

Ardennes The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...

forest, south-east of

Bouillon Bouillon can refer to: Food * Bouillon (broth), a simple broth ** Court-bouillon, a quick broth * Bouillon (soup), a Haitian soup * Bouillon (restaurant), a traditional type of French restaurant **Bouillon Chartier, a bouillon restaurant foun ...

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 ...

. Replacing an original building destroyed by fire, the current castle was built from 1874 to 1877 for

Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders nl, Filips Eugeen Ferdinand Marie Clemens Boudewijn Leopold Joris , image = Philippe comte de Flandre (1880).jpg , caption = , spouse = , issue = , house = Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , father ...

History

The domain was originally purchased in 1849 by the Count of Mesniel, who acquired land to build a manor house. In 1859, the property was purchased by

Theodore van der Noot, 8th Marquess of Assche Theodore Charles Antoine van der Noot, 8th Marquess of Assche and 6th Count van der Noot (14 July 1818 – 13 August 1889) was a Belgian courtier and member of high society. Career During the Holland period the Marquess of Assche was Lord-Chamber ...

. Ten years later, the property was sold to

, the brother of

Leopold II of Belgium * german: link=no, Leopold Ludwig Philipp Maria Viktor , house = Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , father = Leopold I of Belgium , mother = Louise of Orléans , birth_date = , birth_place = Brussels, Belgium , death_date = ...

. After a fire destroyed the first castle in 1873, Philippe of Belgium commissioned the architect

Gustave Saintenoy Gustave Jean-Jacques Saintenoy (; born in Brussels, 6 February 1832, died in Schaerbeek, 17 January 1892) was a Belgian architect. Family He married into the Cluysenaar family of Architects. In 1861 he married Adèle-Clothilde Cluysenaar (bor ...

to build a replacement. The chapel received special attention and received polychromes by

Jules Helbig Jules is the French form of the Latin "Julius" (e.g. Jules César, the French name for Julius Caesar). It is the given name of: People with the name *Jules Aarons (1921–2008), American space physicist and photographer *Jules Abadie (1876–195 ...

. The park houses redwoods and a 158-meter-long bower. Thousands of plant and flower species were grown in several greenhouses. Prince Philippe also planned sumptuous stables. Passionate about hunting, he spent several months a year at the castle. His wife,

Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen Princess Marie Luise Karoline Alexandra of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (17 November 1845 – 26 November 1912), later Countess of Flanders, was a princess of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, later simply of Hohenzollern. She married Prince Philippe, Count o ...

, made sketches and water-colors. When Prince Philippe died in 1905, his three children inherited the castle and sold it to the Liège wood merchant Robert Colette for 7 million francs. He cut down practically all the trees and resold the property three years later to Alice Solvay, the niece of

Ernest Solvay Ernest Gaston Joseph Solvay (; 16 April 1838 – 26 May 1922) was a Belgian chemist, industrialist and philanthropist. Born in Rebecq, he was prevented by his acute pleurisy from going to university. He worked in his uncle's chemical factor ...

. Today, the estate still belongs to his descendants. During the First World War, a patrol of German soldiers commanded by Lt. Wolf-Werner von Blumenthal of the 2nd Reserve Heavy Cavalry occupied the castle which left it without major damage, except in the wine cellar.Antoine Laurenty (2003), Les carnets d'un citoyen belge. 1914-1918, blz. 79

Residents

* 1849: Count of Mesniel * 1859:

* 1868:

* 1924: Robert Colette * 1927: Alice Solvay

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amerois Castles in the Ardennes (Belgium) Castles in Belgium Castles in Luxembourg (Belgium) Chateau des Amerois Royal residences in Belgium

History

Residents

See also

References