Château de Callenelle

Péruwelz, Belgium, Belgium

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The Château de Callenelle in the village of Callenelle (part of the municipality of Péruwelz, Hainaut, Wallonia, Belgium) is a former seigneurial estate that developed from a 17th‑century manor on the site of the old lordship of Lassus and Callenelle, owned over the centuries by families such as the Thiry d’Offignies, de Marotte, Villegas, Joigni de Pamèle and De Femur.

In the late 19th century the site was briefly used by industrial buyers (Macau, Verdure, De Dudezelle) who installed a sugar beet factory, and its main living building, the present corps de logis dating from the end of the 18th century, was arranged in a U‑shape at the end of a large honor courtyard.

At the start of the 20th century additional structures were added: a building with a covered shelter (préau) and, opposite it, a neo‑Gothic chapel, transforming the former noble house into a more institutional complex that in 1904 became a boarding school run by the French congregation of the Dames de Saint‑Maur, which operated there until the 1980s.

Since 1989 the site has been used by the non‑profit association “Château de Callenelle” as a centre for adults with intellectual disabilities, offering reception, accommodation and care in a 3‑hectare wooded park with several living units, and while the buildings are of historical interest, the château is a private facility and not open to tourist visits.