Mirwart Castle

Mirwart Castle (French: Château de Mirwart) is situated in Mirwart in Saint-Hubert, in the province of Luxembourg, Wallonia, Belgium.

The castle is built on a rock rising above the "Vallée de la Lomme" (the Valley of the Lomme). The oldest parts of the castle date back to the 11th century. It was a stronghold belonging to the duchy of Lorraine. The lords of Mirwart had many bloody conflicts with other feudal lords of the region, such as the lords of Bouillon and Orchimont.

The lords of Mirwart came into conflict with the monks of the powerful Saint-Hubert Abbey, supported by the Prince-Bishop of Liège, who wanted to extend his power in this region to the disadvantage of the Dukes of Lorraine.

The castle was reinforced, sometime between 1077 and 1082, by Henry of Verdun, bishop of Liege. Following complaints from the abbey of Saint-Hubert, the castle was to be destroyed. This act, however, was not approved by the bishop. In 1099, after regaining control over the fief, Bishop Otbert ordered the reconstruction of the castle, which he granted to Bavon de Waha (also known as Bovo de Duras).

In 1293, against the bishop's wishes, the castle and its estates was acquired by Jean d'Avesnes. This resulted in a conflict between the Prince-Bishop of Liège and his new vassal, who sought support from the Counts of Hainaut, Luxembourg, Namur and Loon, and even from the Dukes of Brabant. Control of the castle changed regularly until it was finally held by Prince-Bishop Adolph II of the Marck.

During the numerous conflicts between Spain, Austria and France in the 17th and 18th centuries, the castle was damaged several times. It was only at the beginning of the 18th century that a long undisturbed period began when extensive renovations and embellishments could be undertaken. During this process the castle gradually lost its strongly fortified character.

Text adapted from “Mirwart Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Mirwart Castle ranks #4,678 of 8,134 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #61 of the 92 mapped in Belgium. Founded c. 1050, it is older than 90% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 325 atlas entries founded in the 11th century. 2 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Namur, 54 km away. See how Belgium compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗