Colmont Castle

Colmont Castle, locally known as Kasteel Colmont or Burcht van Kolmont, lies south of the village of Kolmont, in the province of Limburg in the Flemish region in Belgium.

Colmont Castle was probably built sometime during the 11th century. It was constructed to defend the southern border of the county of Loon. The castle was besieged in 1180 by troops of the Prince-bishop of Liège. It remained in the hands of the Counts of Loon until 1206, when ownership was transferred to the Dukes of Brabant. Over the next two centuries, the castle was abandoned and gradually deteriorated.

However, in 1488, the castle was reinforced by Everard van der Marck, who opposed the power of the Prince-bishop, Jan van Horne. This led to the castle being besieged again in 1489. After just a few days, the walls were breached, and the castle's garrison surrendered. In 1490, the Prince-Bishop ordered the castle dismantled. Then, in 1499, the council of the nearby town of Tongeren ordered the remaining walls demolished and had their stones used to repair the town's own walls.

Colmont Castle sits on a natural elevation in the landscape, which has been raised further to form a motte. The former entrance was on its north side. It had an oval-shaped bailey surrounded by a defensive wall. The keep was ten-sided, with a circumference of 47 meters. Originally, it stood about 18 to 24 meters high, but now only 12 meters remain.

This ruin is an adventure to explore. The bailey is only recognizable by the earthen walls surrounding it, beneath which wall fragments likely still remain. During my first visit in 2004, the entrance to the keep was firmly barricaded by a makeshift log door.

However, the entire castle site is off-limits because it is a nature reserve and a badger habitat. If you do attempt to visit, do so in the fall or winter, since otherwise everything is overrun with nettles. It’s also clear that you are not the only 'tourist' to visit these ruins, as evidenced by the many 19th-century inscriptions on the outer sandstone walls of the keep.

The second set of pictures below is from 2021. Apparently, the site has been cleared of undergrowth and some trees, which looks very nice.

Gallery

2021