Belgium · 12th century
The ruin of Rochefort Castle (French: Château comtal de Rochefort) lies about 25 kilometres southeast of Dinant in the Belgian province of Namur, on an elongated rocky plateau above the town of Rochefort in Wallonia. The castle goes back to a medieval fortification of the Montaigu family, which was at the time the largest fortified complex in the Famenne region. Only about ten kilometres away as the crow flies, to the southwest, stands the well-preserved Lavaux-Sainte-Anne Castle.
Because of its favourable strategic position, the complex was besieged, stormed and captured several times over the course of its history. After members of the Stolberg family had converted and extended the fortification into a stately palace, it was confiscated by the French state at the end of the 18th century and sold as national property in 1811. Financial difficulties on the part of the owner led to the palace being used as a quarry, with its building material sold for profit.
In 1966 individual surviving remains of the palace ruin's walls were placed under protection as a listed building; in 1971 the entire ruin, along with the castle grounds, was placed under protection as a ground monument. The complex can only be visited by groups by prior arrangement and as part of a guided tour.
Machine-translated from “Schloss Rochefort (Rochefort)” on the German Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Château de Rochefort ranks #7,244 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #122 of the 128 mapped in Belgium. Founded c. 1150, it is older than 80% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 756 atlas entries founded in the 12th century. 10 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Namur, 43 km away. See how Belgium compares in the castle statistics.
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