Jemeppe Castle

Jemeppe Castle, locally known as Château Jemeppe, lies in the village of Hargimont, in the province of Luxembourg in the Wallonia region in Belgium.

Jemeppe Castle was built in 1270 by a Jean d'Ochain. His castle was just the large rectangular keep and it served as a fortified residence and protection from attacks by soldiers and plunderers. Originally the keep would have had only 5 stories. In that time the area was continually fought over by the ruling families of Namur and Luxembourg, who had been fighting to gain control over the duchies of Durbuy and La Roche since the 12th century.

Until 1616 the keep that was Jemeppe Castle was owned by the Ochain family. Then it went to a Raes D'Ans, Lord of Velroux, through marriage. He then enlarged the castle by building 4 wings with corner towers, to form a square moated castle around a courtyard.

In 1739 and 1748, these wings were modernized and more windows were added.

In 1838, Jemeppe Castle passed to the De Sauvage-Vercour family. Between 1865 and 1875, Sir Adrien De Sauvage-Vercour had extensive renovation work carried out on the castle. Attics and pitched roofs were added to the wings. Sir Adrien also commissioned an unknown architect to build a 'crowning apex' on the keep, and the old flat roof was replaced by the present steep roof.

During the 20th century the castle fell into neglect but was also restored to its present appearance.

At present Jemeppe Castle is used as a luxury hotel and conference center and can be visited as a guest. This is a beautiful castle.

Jemeppe Castle was used as an example for a new castle in the Netherlands; Almere Castle. That castle would be an enlarged version of Jemeppe Castle. Building started in 2000 but it was never finished and it is now a modern ruin.

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