Belvédère Castle ( French: ''Château du Belvédère'';

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

: ''Kasteel Belvédère'') is a Belgian royal residence in Laeken,

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 ...

, which currently houses

Albert II of Belgium , house = Belgium , father = Leopold III of Belgium , mother = Astrid of Sweden , birth_date = , birth_place = Stuyvenberg Castle, Laeken, Brussels, Belgium , death_date = , death_place = , signature = Albert II of Belgium Signat ...

and his wife, Queen Paola of Belgium.

History

Belvédère Castle was originally built in the 1780s, then the castle was bought by King Leopold II in 1867. The castle was meant for his sister Carlotta of Mexico, but she chose to live in

Tervuren Tervuren () is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, Belgium. The municipality comprises the villages of Duisburg, Tervuren, Vossem and Moorsel. On January 1, 2006, Tervuren had a total population of 20,636. The total a ...

, which left Belvédère empty for a while. In 1890, a fire broke out in the Royal Castle of Laeken, and King Leopold and his wife

Marie Henriette of Austria Marie Henriette Anne of Austria (23 August 1836 – 19 September 1902) was Queen of the Belgians as the wife of King Leopold II. The marriage was arranged against the will of both Marie Henriette and Leopold and became unhappy due to their dis ...

moved to Belvédère while repairs took place. Once the repairs were finished, Leopold and Marie Henriette moved back to the Royal Palace, while Belvédère became the residence of their youngest daughter, Princess Clementine. She lived in Belvédère until her father died and she got married, leaving the castle for the Royal Palace. From there, the castle was occupied by different members of the royal court. In 1958, it was used for exhibitions during the

World Expo A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...

. The following year, the newlyweds Albert II and Paola moved to Belvédère, which expanded to , having acquired parts of a local park. All three of the royal couple's children were born and raised in Belvédère. After the couple became the monarchs of Belgium, they stayed at the castle instead of moving to the Royal Palace.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belvedere Castle Castles in Belgium Castles in Brussels Buildings and structures completed in the 18th century Royal residences in Belgium