Castle of Fenffe, Royal château in Fenffe, Belgium

The Castle of Fenffe is a late 16th-century building in Fenffe, near Ciergnon, resembling a fortified farm. It has a garden and a terrace overlooking a pond, and its park contains old oaks and a chapel dated 1717. Between the castle and the road stands a low, long building flanked by two towers, the left one serving as a dovecote. The main door is set in a stone arch with a black iron ring, and the steep slate roof has dormer windows and round stone chimneys.

Fenffe was a seigneurie held in 1317 by the de Fenffe family and passed by marriage to the De Waha in the mid-14th century. Lambertine de Croÿ, countess of Berlaymont, bought it on 3 February 1580 and ceded it to Charles de Poitiers; the present castle-farm dates from the end of the 16th century. Sold in 1891 to King Leopold II, it joined the Royal Domain of the Ardennes and in 1903 passed to the Donation Royale.

The castle served as a home for Prince Albert and Princess Paola before they became king and queen. It holds a special place in Belgium's royal family history and personal story.

The castle is private property belonging to the Royal Trust of Belgium and cannot be visited inside. You can view the building from the outside, but access to the grounds is not permitted.

The castle was left in ruins after the Second World War and was further damaged by a fire in 1966. Restoration work carried out in 1967 and 1968 allowed it to become the secondary residence of Prince Albert and Princess Paola. When Albert II took the throne in 1993, the couple moved to Ciergnon and left Fenffe to their children.