Wallonia (Belgium) · Namur, Belgium

Château de Vêves

Five pepper-pot towers on a rocky knoll near Celles — often called Belgium's most beautiful castle, and the very image of the fairy-tale keep. It has passed by inheritance, never by sale, within the Beaufort and Liedekerke-Beaufort line for some seven centuries, and the family still uses it.

At a glance

Built: 15th century (on 13th-century base)
Style: Fairy-tale turreted castle
Commissioned by: Beaufort, then Liedekerke-Beaufort family
Signature feature: Cluster of five slate-capped towers on a rock spur
Continuity: c. 700 years in the Beaufort / Liedekerke-Beaufort line
Interior: 18th-century apartments with a rare timber-galleried courtyard
Setting: Above the village of Celles, one of Wallonia's 'most beautiful villages'
Visiting: Open to visitors (seasonal calendar)