Spontin Castle, Medieval castle in Yvoir, Belgium

Spontin Castle stands in a bend of the Bocq, whose water flows around it in cascading waterfalls. Its grey stone walls are flanked by round towers with steep grey conical roofs; the upper sections of the central towers are exposed red brick. A dark arched opening sits at the base between the two central towers, and a narrow terrace with a low railing runs along the base.

Spontin began around the 13th century as a square defensive tower in the Bocq valley, guarding the old Roman road from Dinant to Huy. Between 1266 and 1284 Pierre de Beaufort built the main tower, and in 1288 his son Guillaume, called "l'Ardennais", was rewarded with the fiefdom of Spontin for his conduct at the Battle of Woeringen. The castle was never taken despite assaults from Liège, Dinant, Burgundy and France, and was listed as a monument and site on 14 January 1950.

The castle's name comes from the Maison de Spontin, which held it from about the mid-13th century; Guillaume "l'Ardennais" (1276-1321) turned the first square tower into a fortified three-storey dwelling. In the courtyard stands a wrought-iron well frame made by Van Boeckel in the 19th century, and the south wing was redecorated in neo-Gothic style by architects Jean-Baptiste Bethune and Auguste Van Assche.

The castle currently remains closed to the public due to ongoing restoration work managed by the Les Cimaises de Spontin association. You can view and photograph it from the riverbank to see the structure from a distance.

The wrought-iron well frame in the courtyard was made by Van Boeckel in the 19th century. The castle was used as a film set in 2016 for "The Canterville Ghost", with Michaël Youn, Audrey Fleurot and Michèle Laroque. On 2 May 2004, the owner Robert Vermeersch was found murdered in the castle.