Château Miranda (), also known as Château de Noisy () was a 19th-century

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

in Celles,

province of Namur Namur (; ; ) is a province of Wallonia, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders (clockwise from the West) on the Walloon provinces of Hainaut, Walloon Brabant, Liège and Luxembourg in Belgium, and the French department of Ardennes. Its ...

Wallonia Wallonia ( ; ; or ), officially the Walloon Region ( ; ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—along with Flemish Region, Flanders and Brussels. Covering the southern portion of the c ...

, Belgium, in the region of the

Ardennes The Ardennes ( ; ; ; ; ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, extending into Germany and France. Geological ...

. Demolition of the château began in October 2016 and was completed by October 2017.

History

The château was planned and designed in 1866 by the English architect Edward Milner under commission from the Liedekerke-De Beaufort family, who had left their previous home, Vêves Castle, during the French Revolution. Milner died in 1884 before the château was finished. Construction was completed in 1907 after the

clock tower Clock towers are a specific type of structure that house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another building ...

was erected. Their descendants remained in occupation until World War II. A small portion of the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive or Unternehmen Die Wacht am Rhein, Wacht am Rhein, was the last major German Offensive (military), offensive Military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western ...

took place on the property, and it was during that time that the château was occupied by German forces. In 1950, Château Miranda was renamed "Château de Noisy" when it was taken over by the

National Railway Company of Belgium The National Railway Company of Belgium (, NMBS; , SNCB; ) is the national railway company of Belgium. The company formally styles itself using the Dutch and French abbreviations NMBS/SNCB. The corporate logo designed in 1936 by Henry van de Ve ...

(NMBS/SNCB) as a holiday camp for children. It lasted as a children's camp until the late 1970s. The château stood empty and abandoned from 1991 because the cost to maintain it was too great, and a search for investors in the property failed. Although the municipality of Celles had offered to take it over, the family refused, and the enormous building lingered in a derelict state, succumbing to decay and vandalism. Parts of the structure were heavily damaged in a fire, and many ceiling areas began collapsing. Despite this, it became a favourite venue for

urban exploration Urban exploration (often shortened as UE, urbex, and sometimes known as roof and tunnel hacking) is the exploration of manmade structures, usually abandoned ruins or hidden components of the manmade environment. Photography and historical inte ...

Demolition

Demolition work began in 2016 amid concern over the structural stability of the building. The demolition took approximately a year, which began in October 2016 with the removal of the roof. By October 2017, the château had been completely demolished. The last part to be removed was the central tower.

In popular culture

The château was used as a filming location by the American television series ''

Hannibal Hannibal (; ; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Punic people, Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Ancient Carthage, Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War. Hannibal's fat ...

''. The building is shown as Castle Lecter in Lithuania. The château was also used as a filming location for the Belgian movie ''Het huis Anubis en de wraak van Arghus'' (English: The house of Anubis and the revenge of Arghus) The design of Frankenstein Manor in

Universal Epic Universe Universal Epic Universe is a theme park located in Orlando, Florida, United States. It opened on May 22, 2025, as the third theme park and fourth park overall to open at Universal Orlando. The park was part of a larger development and feature ...

was based on Château Miranda.

Gallery

File:Castle Miranda - Back Side.jpg, Rear of the château File:Castle Miranda tower.JPG, The high clock tower File:Castle Miranda bad condition.JPG, The top (4th) floor shown almost entirely collapsed File:Castle Miranda - Gate.JPG, The entrance gate File:Site chateau Miranda destroyed 2018.jpg, The site of the demolished castle

References

External links