CENTRAL WALLONIA 207

Basilique

St-Materne i

Rue de la Basilique 12, Walcourt;

18 km (11 miles) S of Charleroi.

Road Map C3. Tel (071) 611366.

£ @ n Grand Place 25; (071)

612526. 
        

        daily. & treasury.

        
        

        http://www.walcourt.be

        
        

A large 13th- to 15th-century

church, Basilique St-Materne

is distinguished by its turrets

and peculiar onion-shaped

tips on its spire. Said to be

founded by the 4th-century

St Maternus of Tongeren, the

church became a pilgrimage

site focussing on devotion to

Notre Dame de Walcourt, a

wooden statue dating from

the 10th century (with 17th-

century silver plating) that

now stands in the north tran-

sept. This history explains the

basilica’s size, as well as the

richness of its interior, which

includes a flamboyant Gothic

jubé (rood screen), believed

to have been presented by

Charles V in 1531. The

church’s Treasury also has

many exquisite devotional

objects, some of which may

be the work of the great

13th-century goldsmith

Hugo d’Oignies (see p202).

Environs

Philippeville, 9 km (6 miles)

to the southeast, was a for-

tress town built by Emperor

Charles V in 1555 and mod-

ernized by the French military

architect Vauban in the 17th

century. The fortress was

demolished in 1860, leaving

10 km (6 miles) of under-

ground passages, called Les

Souterrains, part of which can

be visited by a guided tour.

Les Souterrains

Philippeville. n Rue des Religieuses

2; (071) 662300. # Jul–Aug: 1:30–

3pm daily. http://www.philippeville.be

http://www.valleesdeseauxvives.be

Château

de Vêves u

Noisy 5, Celles-Houyet; 8 km (5 miles)

SE of Dinant. Road Map D3.

Tel (082) 666395. # Jul–Aug:

10am–5:30pm daily; Apr–Oct:

10am–5:30pm Tue–Thu, Sat & Sun.

& http://www.chateau-de-veves.be

Perched on a grassy hillock

with massive walls, five tall,

cone-topped towers and high

windows, the 15th-century

Château de Vêves resembles a

child’s drawing of a fantasy

castle. Its half-timbered galler-

ies overlook a fully enclosed

courtyard. Parts of the interior,

such as the huge medieval

kitchens, are pleasingly robust,

but the private family rooms

have been softened by 18th-

century refinements. The

Seigneurs de Celles, who took

The medieval frame and conical

towers of the Château de Vêves

Meuse. Originally a medieval
fortress commanding the
river, it was destroyed by the
French in 1554, then rebuilt as
a palatial residence in fetching
Mosan Renaissance style,
with touches of French
château grandeur, between
the 16th and 18th centuries.
This was the home of the
influential dukes of Beaufort-
Spontin. Louis XIV of France
stayed here during his siege of
Dinant in 1675 and, later that
year, signed the Treaty of Freÿr
with Charles II of Spain. In the
1770s, the Austrian governor
of the Netherlands, Charles of
Lorraine, was a visitor.
The château is still owned
by the 20th generation of the
Beaufort family. Its Italianesque
interior is decorated with
wood panelling, tapestry,
paintings and murals. Outside
is a large formal garden in
18th-century French style,
with parterres, fountains,
pools, an orangery (with
300-year-old orange trees),
follies, hedged mazes and an
ornate Rococo pavilion over-
looking the River Meuse.
The name Frëyr relates to
the legend that Freya, the
Scandinavian goddess of
fertility, stopped to rest here
in a cave on the rocky banks
of the Meuse, and had to be
rescued from a band of
naughty Nutons – the elves
that play a major role in
local mythology.

Stately grandeur of the Mosan Renaissance Château de Freÿr

possession of a fortress on

this site in the 12th century,

came from the Beaufort family,

and their descendants still use

the castle as a residence, giving

it the rare feeling of live-in

continuity. The nearby village

of Celles is considered to be

one of the prettiest in Wallonia.