Chateau Mirwart

The castle of Mirwart is located in the Belgian village of Mirwart in the province of Luxembourg. Situated on a rocky hill overlooking the valley of the ‘Lomme’.

Its origin goes back when it once was a fortress built at the beginning of the 11th century by the Duchy of Lorraine, who wanted to protect themselves against their enemies of Bouillon and Orchimont.

Shortly afterwards, the lords of Mirwart aroused the resentment of the monks of Saint-Hubert.

During the same century, they were driven away from their fortress by the Prince-Bishop of Liège, who had taken the defense of the Monks.

In 1083, the monks of Saint-Hubert dismantled the fortress.This act was not to the liking of the prince-bishop of Liège. In 1099, he ordered the reconstruction of the castle, which he granted to the ‘Bovon de Waha’.

In 1293, the chateau was bought by Jean d'Avesnes, against the prince-bishop’s wishes. This dispute was set off into a conflict between the Prince-Bishop of Liège and the Counts of Hainaut, Luxembourg, Namur and Loon as well as the Duke of Brabant.Over the years, control of the castle changed so regularly, when it was finally sold to the prince-bishop Adolphe de La Marck.

The misfortunes of the castle were not going to end there…During the 17th and 18th century, there were numerous conflicts between Spain, Austria and France, resulting the damage of the castle several times.It was only at the beginning of the 18th century that a long undisturbed period began when extensive renovations could be undertaken. During this process the castle gradually lost its strongly fortified character.

In the nineteenth century, it was bought by the creator of a crystal factory, and passed it successively in the hands of the Families Van Der Linden of Hoogvorst, Arrigade and Von Der Becke, who further transformed the castle into a beautiful country residence.In the middle of the 19th century, the castle was renovated by Alphonse Balat, architect to King Leopold II of Belgium.

After World War II the province of Luxembourg acquired the castle. The building was renovated but the province failed to find a use for it. As a result, little by little, the castle was neglected and was subsequently looted by burglars who took all the valuable furniture and decorative fittings from the interior.

The castle has been bought recently by a Dutchman and plans for renovations are soon!

Gopro pic