En un regard
Le château en bref
Château de Blier stands on a rise overlooking the hamlet of the same name, on the left bank of the Aisne, between Pont d'Érezée and Amonines, in the Luxembourg Ardennes. It is not a single building but a complex assembled over four centuries: a farm and a former manor house flanked by towers, a nineteenth-century ‘Petit Château’ and a ‘Grand Château’ dating from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, grouped around an enclosed courtyard.
The oldest core dates from the sixteenth century, the period in which the site is first mentioned; carved fragments preserved in the unrestored parts support this dating. The estate is associated with the de Blier family, whose arms and motto ‘Virtute et fortuna’ survive above the entrance porch and on the main tower. According to the history published by the current establishment, the family retained the property until the mid-nineteenth century; around 1870, Auguste Seny, presented as an heir of the lineage, had the Petit Château built at the back of the courtyard.
In 1882, the estate was sold to the Wilmart family of Liège. Charles Wilmart, provincial administrator and burgomaster of Amonines, had the Grand Château built between 1890 and 1905; it unified the buildings and gave the site its present silhouette. He died there on 18 September 1932. During the Second World War, the château reportedly served as an American command post, according to the same source.
Since 1997, the château has housed a tourist accommodation business, while the farm remains a working agricultural holding. Part of the outbuildings houses the hotel-restaurant L'Affenage.
