Are you an EPFL student looking for a semester project?
Work with us on data science and visualisation projects, and deploy your project as an app on top of GraphSearch.
Concept
Crèvecœur Castle
Summary
Crèvecœur Castle (Château de Crèvecœur) is a ruined castle in Belgium. The ruins of the Château de Crèvecœur are located in Bouvignes-sur-Meuse, part of the Belgian city of Dinant, province of Namur, Wallonia. The castle is owned by the Walloon Region. The ruin field can be visited freely all year.
During a siege against the castle around 1430, three knights are said to have defended the castle to defend their wives, but were killed in battle; their wives in turn took up arms in revenge, but were likewise killed. Heartbroken and believing all was lost, the ladies of the castle donned long white robes, climbed the parapet, and jumped off together to their deaths. This legend is the origin of the castle's name, Crèvecœur ("broken heart"). Since at least 1778, the original context has been distorted and the legend has been tied to the French siege of 1554.
The actual castle of Crèvecœur rises on a cliff eighty meters above the Meuse. The core is formed by a square keep from ca. 1320. Along the keep, two staircases of twelve steps give access to a protruding, semi-circular bastille from the 15th century. The full length of forty meters reached Crèvecœur ca. 1430.
Below Crèvecœur is the old count's castle, which is three times as long and whose ruins are situated on three levels. The highest and also the oldest is at the height of the Romanesque keep (floor plan 15 x 11.5 metres). On a second terrace, five meters lower, was the farmstead, which was extended in the 13th century towards Sint-Lambertuskerk. This part contains a still remarkably well-preserved cellar. The Saint Catherine's Chapel, the coinage and the large hall that served as town hall were also located here. The third and lowest terrace came up against the Sint-Lambertus Church.
Already at the end of the 11th century, Godfrey I, Count of Namur had a fortress built at Bouvignes. His son Henry the Blind had heavy walls built around it. Archaeologically identified fire marks are associated with a siege of Bouvignes in 1188 by Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut.
Official source
About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.