La Royère Castle

Belgium, Belgium

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La Royère Castle (Château de la Royère) is a ruined medieval castle in the village of Néchin, part of the municipality of Estaimpuis in the province of Hainaut, Wallonia, Belgium, and is one of the oldest water castles in the region.

Its domain is first mentioned in the 11th century, but the castle itself was built in the early 13th century by Arnaud d’Audenaerde, a renowned Flemish crusader who also fought at the Battle of Bouvines, as a strategically placed fortified stronghold between the Lys and the Scheldt to block armies coming from the south into the Flemish plains.

The castle played a notable role in the Battle of the Golden Spurs in 1302, when it was held by a French garrison and then attacked by Flemish militias from Lille, Courtrai and Ypres, and later during the Hundred Years’ War it was occupied by robber knights (Raubritter), though its military importance declined with the arrival of artillery.

Today the castle is a protected heritage monument in ruins, surrounded by a moat, and described as the last example of a small 13th‑century plain castle in the area, with a distinctive polygonal plan (often described as decagonal or with eleven towers and a central donjon) in Romanesque and early Gothic style.