Château de la Forêt

April 2014

I have long hesitated to publish this shooting on the (too) famous Château de la Forêt. After the pother that there has been around this place, it seemed to me it was better to leave it out for a while. This is not the first hesitation that I about this castle.
Already at the time of my first visit, I was told that I would never go back.
At the time, I meet two German explorers, Kim and Benjamin, who had the same aim as me. It was a fail. Having heard about the recent history of the castle, I preferred to forget it.

But the irresistible allure of these majestic rooms frozen in time will in the end overcame my will. And, I must admit, I'm somewhat disappointed.
Obviously, the interior remains a rare beauty and get lost in the maze of hidden doors, stairs and endless corridors are fun. But the health of the building and abuses by some assholes were marred pleasure.
On the top floor, the situation becomes critical. Fortunately, the roof is made of small brick vaults, because without it, we could already say goodbye to this beautiful castle. Difficult to make robust, but this type of coverage does not guarantee a sufficient seal. Thus, in almost every room, the ceiling is falling after infiltration. At other floors, the situation is much better, but for how long ?
Another cause of my (relative) disappointment, the mess caused by vandals. Countless paintings and sculptures damaged or stolen, furniture emptied of their contents or cans and dragging butts everywhere. When I see this, I imagine a whole other use I could make of my tripod, so fortunately, I met one of these morons...

Hope that the situation can be unlocked within a reasonable time, otherwise a destiny to Noisy will just consider. And saw the beauty of the place, it would be a mess. Too many mansions have been reduced to dust, it's not necessary that the Château de la Forêt follows the same doom as Noisy/Miranda...

Historical note

The current castle was built by the Marquis Oswald du Chasteler in 1850 in the neo-Tudor style, a relatively rare occurrence in Belgium, replacing a medieval castle.
Oswald died in 1865.
Burned down then restored in 1888, it will be linked to a tragedy the following year.
During the restoration works of the castle, the Marquise Louise du Chasteler and her children are accommodated at the presbytery of Moulbaix. On June 5, 1889 in the evening, while the marquise was writing a letter in a parsonage of the presbytery, the marquise was struck down at point-blank range by a gunshot. The murder weapon is found, but the murderer will never be identified. The murder would later be known as the "Moulbaix Affair".

Later, the castle was bequeathed to the Ursel family, until the death of the Count of Ursel in 2005.
Since then, the castle remained abandoned until its acquisition in 2016.

Pictures

Click on the picture to start the slideshow

Comments

Pas encore de commentaire • No comment yet
Soyez le premier & devenez quelqu’un de bien • Be the first & become a good person