Château Rouge, Medieval castle in Bas-Oha, Belgium.
Château Rouge is a three-storey building in Bas-Oha, in Wanze, whose grey stone or brick facade is divided into sections: a steep gabled roofline on the left and, on the right, a taller square tower capped by a pointed pyramidal roof. Regular rows of rectangular windows with pale frames and dark panes mark the front, a band of stonework runs between the upper floors, and a central doorway is reached by a few steps. The pitched roof carries small dormer openings and a chimney.
The original castle dates from the 11th century, when it served as a residence for a religious community. A fire gutted the building in 1885, and the present structure was rebuilt within the original walls during the 19th century. The red colour of the outer walls may have been added during that reconstruction.
The name Château Rouge, "Red Castle", refers to the colour of the outer walls, which may have been added when the building was rebuilt after the 1885 fire. Before being abandoned, the castle served as a nursing home, a use that followed its centuries as the residence of a religious community.
Château Rouge stands in Bas-Oha, a section of Wanze in Liège Province, Wallonia, on the road along the Meuse. The building is abandoned and closed to visitors, so it is seen from the public road; the gabled section, the square tower with its pyramidal roof and the rows of windows face the street.
The 1885 fire gutted the medieval castle, and the present building was raised inside the surviving original walls. The red colour of the outer walls may date from that 19th-century rebuild rather than from the earlier castle. Before being abandoned, it last served as a nursing home.
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