Château de Beloeil

For almost seven hundred years the Château de Beloeil has been in the possession of the aristocratic de Ligne family. The most brilliant member of this noble line was Charles-Joseph Lamoral, Prince de Ligne (1735-1814), diplomat, officer in the Austrian army, writer, and friend of many of the great figures of his time including Marie-Antoinette and Catherine the Great. Such was his character he earned himself the sobriquet "Prince Charming".

In the 16th C., and in the 17th and 18th centuries in particular, the small 12th C. castle which originally stood on the site was progressively altered to the taste of successive generations of the de Ligne family until finally completely transformed. The main house burnt down in 1900, being rebuilt in its present 18th C. style in 1920. Only the two free standing wings and the entrance pavilions survive substantially unchanged from 1682. The latest in the long and distinguished line of the princes of Ligne lives with his family in the left-hand wing.

Acting as a central feature of Beloeil is a large water basin, which is part of the large French-style garden of the Château.

Each year in Spring, Beloeil castle hosts a flower show with 2,000 amaryllis and 600 orchids exhibited in the various rooms of the castle that are open to the public.