Château Jemeppe, located in Hargimont in the commune of Marche-en-Famenne in the Belgian province of Luxembourg, is a fort plains castle that dates back to the first half of the 13th century.
Situation
The Château Jemeppe castle is located in Hargimont, in a park along Rue Felix Lefèvre at No. 24 (national Route 896).
History
It is known, however, that as early as Roman times, a fortified Roman villa had already been established in the area. The Temples were established, in a fortified site close to the present castle, the only commandery in the county of Luxembourg.
In the 13th century, the estate was just a fortified house surrounded by swamps. It is undoubtedly the strategic value of the places that also prompted Lord Jean d’Ochain and his descendants to replace the substantial house with a mighty dungeon surrounded by a double row of doves powered by the Hedrée. In any case, the defensive system seems effective since Ochain’s family remained the castle’s owners until it was handed over to Henri de Waha in 1621.
During the 18th century, the dungeon gradually loses its defensive role. The various successive owners will add buildings and turn them into a castle.Layey
During a more radical restoration campaign in the nineteenth century, the dungeon is styled from a roof; the castle does not lose much of its feudal character.
It was the property, between 1840 and 1978, of the family of the Wild Knights Vercour.
Description
The large quadrangular tower or dungeon features a base of fifteen meters by eleven sides. Five levels high, the tower rises to 23 meters under Corniche. The castle was built next to the tall tower forming a four-wing structure with a rectangular inner courtyard. The wings have two levels (one floor) and are raised to the remaining three angles by three-level high circular towers. A fifth tower, which is square, stands to the right of the grand tower. The square farm was built in the 17th and 18th centuries to the castle’s west.
