Château médiéval de Vaulx

En un regard

Le château en bref

On a rocky spur overlooking the Scheldt, at the foot of the church of Saint-Pierre in Vaulx, stand the ruins of the last medieval castle of the Tournai area, known in local tradition as the "château César". Its builder is thought to have been Jehan dit Sausset d'Estainkierke, knight and lord of Vaulx, who raised it in the mid-14th century, around 1340-1360. The building follows the so-called Philippian plan: an almost regular quadrilateral 13 to 15 metres a side, slightly distorted to fit the terrain, flanked by four round towers about 6.4 metres in diameter. Built of local limestone, it retains arrow slits, a well, latrines and a vaulted cellar; the three-level south-west tower formed its residential core. Sold around 1376-1380 to Hugues de Melun, lord of Antoing, the lordship lost its role and the castle was gradually abandoned. Listed in 1943, cleared by scouts in 1966-1967 and excavated in the 1980s, it is now maintained by a non-profit association that holds a medieval festival there every summer.