Château royal d'Ardenne

Ardenne Castle, or the Royal Castle of Ardenne was situated in Wallonia in the municipality of Houyet in Belgium not far from Ciergnon Castle and 15 kilometres from Dinant, was a royal castle that served as a luxury hotel from 1891 to 1949. It burned down in 1969.On March 21, 1837, King Leopold I of Belgium bought 708 hectares of land called "Terre d'Hardenne et de Férage". In this domain, crossed by the Lesse and the Ywoigne, he had a rock tower built and extended an existing hunting lodge with two towers. In the same period, King Leopold I also started the construction of a country house a few kilometers away: the Royal Castle of Ciergnon.After the enthronement, King Leopold II had his father's manor demolished in 1874 to make way for the new Château Royal d'Ardenne. The building by architect Alphonse Balat was completed in 1891. The gardens were created by the French landscape architect Elie Lainé.

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