Castle of Jehay in Amay - a photo on Flickriver

            Registered on the list of the exceptional Inheritance of Wallonia, the castle of Jehay is a remarkable example of castle of pleasure. The current complex consists of three volumes distinct, girdled water levels and connected by bridges spanning the ditches. Rebuilt mainly at the medium of XVIe C., it still preserves some traces of older constructions. At West, for example, the main building rests on the foundations of a medieval strong house and, in the cellars, of the vaults and columns of XIIIe S. are still visible. The castle presents a particular aspect: the apparatus of the external frontages and the two turns draws a checkerwork made up of blocks of limestone and sandstone hardcores. The interior frontages giving on the court were deeply altered with XIXe C., a gallery and a terrace with balustrade of neo-gothic inspiration was inserted there. At North draws up the parish church Saint-Lambert flanked of a square tower later and surrounded of a small cemetery. Property of the family van den Steen since 1680, you will be able to admire there a rich person collection of uvres of art, of which sculptures of the count Guy van den Steen.
A lot of the history of the castle was lost during the von Rundstedt offensive, because the archieves that were situated in Bastogne got then destroyed.

A certain Jehan, what corrupted via Jehaing or Jahin to Jehay, lived there roud 1130,

In 1492 a certain Jehanne de Sart married Arnould de Mérode. During more than 2 centuries the castle was in posession of the family of count de Mérode,and great restaurations were done. Round 1550 the castle got his actual form (the older foundations and cellars were preserved). In 1680 Ferdinand-Maximiliaan de Mérode sold the castle to François de Gand-Vilain van den Steen. In 1978 count Guy van den Steen (1905-1999) sold this castle to the county of Luik . Since the death of the count 20 december 1999, the province is complete owner. With the sale the count(himself a well known archeologe and sculpteur) wanted to protect his important collection of works of art and archeological discoveries.

The "checkerboardpattern" of the towers and fassades with white blocs is exceptional in our region , but can be found in the region of Saïda in Libanon. The grey innerwalls are made of limestone,what often is used in gothic. The general style of the castle is is Renaissance.

The castle is used as museum for about 22.000 archeologic discoveries.The interieur (with a piano from 1780 and a mass art objects) is worth the visit. The castle was situated near the old ancient roman way to Tongeren, what expains the Romanderuins

Taken on: September 25, 2008

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Holland-fotograaf « less

Sets appears in: • castles in Belgium

Groups appears in: • L'Europe pittoresque • Good Old Belgium

Camera: Canon EOS 40D, f/13.0, 1/80 sec, 10mm, ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 40D
Lens:	EF-S10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM
Aperture:	f/13.0
Exposure Time:	0.013 sec (1/80)
Focal Length:	10mm
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Spot
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop 23.3 (Windows)
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