Pietersheim Castle

En un regard

Le château en bref

Pietersheim Castle, in Lanaken (Flemish Limburg), is a former seigneurial waterburcht at the centre of a 76-hectare estate, once a princely domain now used as a recreational park. Excavations place a castle on the site as early as the late 11th century; it is mentioned in 1292. Destroyed in 1378, it was rebuilt with a circular enceinte, up to three concentric moats, a lower courtyard, a chapel and fortified gateways. The Mérode family acquired it in 1449; besieged in 1569, the castle was taken in 1579 by Alexander Farnese, who made it his headquarters during the siege of Maastricht. In 1670, the Prince-Bishop of Liège had its defences demolished. Following fires in 1836, 1909 and 1920, the present neoclassical building was completed in 1926 beside the medieval ruins. It houses a hotel-restaurant, and the ruins of the burcht, surrounded by their moats, remain accessible to visitors.