Namur Castleby ~B-F-G

Photography / Architecture / Exterior

This is a mosaic shot, showing the castle of the counts of Namur, Belgium. At least... it shows what is left of it. While the citadel grew and became more powerfull after every siege, the castle (as far as it was not shot to bits) was continuously slighted and altered to enable it to withstand the most modern weapons of the time.

The most important remnants of the medieval castle are the three towers you see here. From left to right they are the 12th century Tour au Four (oven tower, named after the bread oven found in its walls), the 12th century Tour aux chartes (charter tower, which is said to have held the count's archives) and the Tour à la citerne (the cistern tower, housing a well and a 27 meter deep cistern -for a long time mistaken for an oubliette). The arsenal in the courtyard contains important remnants of the late medieval count's residence, which in turn contains stones that were taken from a Roman burial site that occupied part of the citadel site. Other dominant buildings on the castle, such as the forge and the huge bridge, are Dutch additions from the 19th century.