Castle of Lavaux-Holy-Anne

The Château of Lavaux-Holy-Anne is located in Belgium close to Rochefort, in the Province of Namur, Wallonia. In 1450, Jean II of Berlo ordered the construction of this castle. With century in century the castle was reinforced, renovated. Lavaux-Holy-Anne did not occupy a very strategic position.

Historical

It is in the neighborhoods of 1244 that Jacques de Wellin, known as Jacques of Vaux would have made build an extremely simple tower to supervise the Roman way. The castle passes in the hands to the 14es of Shönau by the marriage of the little girl of Jacques of Vaux. In 1450 arrives Jean II of Berlo which becomes owner of the castle and lord of Lavaux. In 1634, the castle will be resold in Jacques Reynard de Rouveroy, colonel of infantry of the Emperor Ferdinand III. It will obtain the title of Baron de Lavaux. In 1730, Henri Joachim de Rouveroy, grandson of Jacques Reynard de Rouveroy inherits the castle east will finish installations of the castle. In 1753, the last lords of Lavaux are dispossessed and obliged to sell. The field of Lavaux-Holy-Anne will be repurchased in 1810 by traders of Stavelot, the Malaccord families and Fiscbacch. Those will probably never live it and the castle will be dilapidated. In 1924 the field is sold in Bernheim but is parcelled out and parcelled out. The Association of the historical Residences will take the castle charges some as of 1926 before bequeathing it in 1933 to the “League of the Friends of the Castle of Lavaux-Holy-Anne” who is then created by the Lemonnier baroness.

architecture

The architectural plan is thus very simple, an interior court in the form of rhombus, confined with the four angles by round stone towers, connected between them by curtains, out of stone also. The fortress is surrounded by ditches, fed out of water by Wimbe, small tributary of Lesse.

The large keep is bored machicolation, loopholes with oculus and of archères. To reach the interior court one must at the time take the way of run, built out of wood. Its trajectory in arc of circle prevents the enemy from smashing the door carries of wood to water hammers. The fourth turn will be built only in 1500 by the baron de Mérode, and will not be bored any more loopholes. The keep constitutes the showpiece of the castle consequently. It is composed of four levels, with the storeroom where one preserved food and drinks, then the staff waiting room, where the soldiers ensured the monitoring of the lord of Lavaux. One reaches the room seigneuriale then, covered with a very clever vault in corbelling. Resonance is there such as same if two or three people discuss in this part, the enemy which would arrive by the staircase will intra muros, would have the impression which a crowd is inside. We arrive finally at the fourth level, which will not fail to each time surprise the visitor by the superb frame built at the 17th century, and restored with the initial system of tenons and mortises.

There remain four essential components of the fortress such as it was drawn up with the 14th S:

it keep whose limestone wall is thickness a 3 m being with the north-western angle of the building. The round tower connected by a drawbridge to be able to go to the keep, raised to ensure a perfect insulation, insulation which at the winter was very to appreciate inside this tower because two Gothic chimney was drawn up to heat the part. Also in this tower a place was to throw the prisoners with the oubliettes.

it tower of the angle of left, less powerful of aspect seems to be during keep, it shows an architectural symmetry.

them two others turns of angles are less impressive, simpler but are built with regard to the roof in the same way i.e. a roof in the shape of spiked helmet with an arrow at the top.

Visits

The November 16th 2002, celebrates it tennis player Justine Henin married with Pierre-Yves Hardenne in this castle.

External bonds

Seen satellite of the castle on WikiMapia
Official site
Images

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