Castle Poilvache

According to legends, the fortress dates back to the time of Charlemagne. It is said to have been built in the early 9th century by the Four Heemskinderen, who had taken refuge on an impregnable rock from the wrath of Charlemagne. He was determined to persecute them because one of them had killed his cousin. He besieged the fortress and set it on fire, but the four Heemskinderen had already fled into the Ardennes forests. The site of Poilvache may have already been used in the first centuries of our era as a refuge against invading barbarians. The fortress certainly existed in 1228 when it appeared in the archives under the poetic name chastiau d'émeraude (emerald castle), likely due to the deep green woodlands that surrounded it. Over the years, the name was shortened to Méraude, and finally received the somewhat perplexing name Poilvache (Cow Hair) (in the second half of the 13th century?). The following hypotheses are considered for the origin of this name:

The conquest of the castle may have been made possible by a stratagem of the inhabitants of Dinant: they disguised themselves in cow hides and smuggled themselves in among a herd of live cows.

The name may be derived from a pejorative term Pillans-vacca (Cattle Thieves), because the residents of the fortress regularly stole cows from the farmers in the area, who belonged to the Prince-Bishopric of Liège.

The meadows near the village, where the farmers let their cattle graze, were often plagued by cold winds, causing the hair of the cows to stand on end.

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