Franchimont Castle () is a medieval castle in the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Theux Theux (; ) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On 1 January 2006 the municipality had 11,571 inhabitants. The total area is 83.36 km2, giving a population density of 139 inhabitants per km2. The mun ...

Liège Province Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is the easternmost province of the Wallonia region of Belgium. Liège Province is the only Belgian province that has borders with three countries. It borders (clockwise from the north) the Dutch province of Limburg, the ...

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 Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. It sits at the western end of a small hill south of the village of Theux, a

sub-municipality A (, literally ''sub-municipality''), or section (), is a subdivision of a municipality in Belgium and, until March 2014, in the Netherlands as well. Belgium Each Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in Belgium that existed as a separate ...

History

It is thought to have originally been built in the 11th century, as a stronghold of the

Prince-Bishopric of Liège The Prince-Bishopric of Liège or Principality of Liège was a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that was situated for the most part in present-day Belgium. It was an Imperial Estate, so the bishop of Liège, as ...

. The original building was extended several times during the Middle Ages, once after a fire in 1387. In 1487 the castle was besieged, and around the same period the La Marck family took ownership of it. In the early 16th century the outer wall was built, with

casemate A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armoured structure from which guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary When referring to antiquity, the term "casemate wall" ...

s and an artillery tower added. The prince-bishops of Liège took the title of Marquis of Franchimont at the start of the 16th century, with Franchimont Castle serving as the base of the Marquessate of Franchimont. The Marquessate was a small province of the Prince-Bishopric, six leagues long by four leagues wide, bounded in by the

Duchy of Limburg The Duchy of Limburg or Limbourg was an imperial estate of the Holy Roman Empire. Much of the area of the duchy is today located within Liège Province of Belgium, with a small portion in the municipality of Voeren, an Enclave and exclave, excla ...

(to the east), the

Duchy of Luxemburg The Duchy of Luxembourg (; ; ; ) was a state of the Holy Roman Empire, the ancestral homeland of the noble House of Luxembourg. The House of Luxembourg became one of the most important political forces in the 14th century, competing against th ...

(fragmented, to the south and the west) and the

Princely Abbey of Stavelot-Malmedy The Princely Abbey of Stavelot-Malmedy, also Principality of Stavelot-Malmedy, sometimes known with its German name Stablo, was an Hochstift, ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire. Princely power was exercised by the Order of Sai ...

(fragmented, to the south and the northwest).Arsène de Noüe, « Une promenade au pays de Franchimont », dans ''Bulletin de l'institut archéologique liégeois'', volume 8, 1866, p. 465.

Modern

Today the castle is owned by the town of Theux and is open to the public. The artillery tower at the north-east corner contains a small exhibition and the ticket office.

Notes

References

* ''Franchimont, A guided tour'' - leaflet obtained at the castle

External links

Franchimont Castle official website (fr)

Franchimont Castle www.castles.nl
Castles in the Ardennes (Belgium) Ruined castles in Belgium Castles in Belgium Castles in Liège Province Theux {{Belgium-castle-stub

History

Modern

See also

Notes

References

External links