Seraing-le-Château Castle

Seraing-le-Château Castle, locally known as Château de Seraing-le-Château, lies in the village of the same name, in the province of Liège in the Wallonia region in Belgium.

The locality of Seraing-le-Château is first mentioned in a charter from 911. In 956 it is mentioned again in a donation made to the Abbey of Saint-Trond. The village owes its name to Seraing Castle, which is of medieval origin. The village was a seigniory depending on the feudal court of Liège.

In the 14th century the castle was owned by the Haneffe family after which it transferred, through marriage, to the De la Marck family. In the 15th century it was owned by the sinister Guillaume De la Marck. This Guillaume was called the "Wild Boar of the Ardennes" because of his bloody campaigns during the end of the 15th century. He often took refuge in Seraing Castle.

During the wars of religion, in 1568, the castle was besieged by the armies of the Prince-Bishop Gerard de Groesbeeck, in his fight against Guillaume de Lummen, descendant of Guillaume De la Marck and a chief of the Sea Beggars.

The descendants of Guillaume De la Marck kept ownership of the castle until 1774. Then it passed to Charles d'Arenberg whose family kept the castle until the French Revolution.

In 1812 the castle was sold to the d'Oultremont de Warnant family. There were plans to use the castle as a museum for Christian art. But in 1869 the castle was destroyed by a large fire. It was consequently rebuilt according to ideas inspired by medieval times.

Nowadays the castle is in ruins. How this came to be I don't know. So if you do, please mail me! It is still private property, so it can not be visited. Too bad, because it seems a little spooky to me. So although the present castle may not be medieval, I like it a lot.

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