Château de Piétrebais

Grez-Doiceau, Belgium, Belgium

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Château de Piétrebais is a historic castle located along the Piétrebais stream in the commune of Grez-Doiceau, in Wallonia’s Walloon Brabant province of Belgium.

Its earliest known lords were the seigneurs of Grez, whose family may have been present at the site as far back as the late 10th century, and the castle’s medieval core is represented by a stout donjon with arrow slits and very thick walls, which only received its roof in the 16th century. 

The original estate entrance, once reached by a drawbridge, is marked by a large carriage gate topped with an elegant Renaissance-style volute gable, and the masonry bears the carved coats of arms of the van den Berghe and Liminghe families. 

A distinctive surviving round tower is a notable pigeon house (colombier) with about 500 nesting boxes and an internal spiral ladder, while the main rectangular castle, originally surrounded by four corner towers, was substantially modified in the 19th century and is now divided into two separate private residences.