Aynechon Tower

The Aynechon Tower, locally known as Torenburcht van Rutten, stands near the village of Rutten, in the province of Limburg in the Flemish Region in Belgium.

The Aynechon Tower is a 14th-century tower house situated in a depression in the terrain, which can be flooded by damming a nearby stream. Originally, the present ground floor was a cellar, accessible only from the first floor. The original entrance to the tower was on the east side at the second-floor level. This entrance would be reached via a removable wooden staircase.

The tower got its name from its possible builder, Aynechon, bastard of the Lord of Hognoul and member of the Awans party. This Aynechon played a part in the war between the Awans and Waroux families, which ravaged this region from 1290 till 1334. He killed a champion knight, called Faloz, of the Waroux family during a judicial duel in front of the cathedral of Liège. It is said Aynechon used a ruse; he arrived deliberately late at the place of the duel. This caused his adversary to start fighting, already fatigued from waiting in the sun in his armor.

The Bottart family is mentioned as owners in 1385. Probably through inheritance, the tower passed to the Van Streels/De Streelles sometime in the 15th or 16th century. Around 1600, the Arckens family acquired the tower. Their descendants still own the fields in which the tower stands. By the 1770s, the tower was already described as a ruin.

The Aynechon Tower is now situated in the middle of a field and can be visited when the gate is open. It stands only a small kilometer from the still inhabited Hamal Castle, which also originated from a tower house. That castle can not be visited.

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