Château of Val-Duchesse

Coordinates: 50°49′12.87″N 4°26′1.44″E / 50.8202417°N 4.4337333°E / 50.8202417; 4.4337333
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Château of Val-Duchesse
A frontal view of the Château of Val-Duchesse
Map
General information
TypeChâteau
Architectural styleNeoclassical
LocationAuderghem, Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium
Coordinates50°49′12.87″N 4°26′1.44″E / 50.8202417°N 4.4337333°E / 50.8202417; 4.4337333

The Château of Val-Duchesse (French: Château de Val-Duchesse; Dutch: Kasteel van Hertoginnedal) is a mansion and estate situated in the municipality of Auderghem in Brussels, Belgium. The château, which occupies the site of a former priory, is owned by the Belgian Royal Trust.

History

The reconstructed "priory" building at Val-Duchesse

The

Thomas of Aquin who is said to have been a guest at Val Duchesse. It was the first priory for women in the Low Countries that followed the rule of Saint Dominic
and was generously donated by Aleydis and other noble ladies. According to her wish Aleydis' heart was interred at a mausoleum that today has disappeared.

The priory further flourished and gained considerable wealth thanks to the generous gifts of numerous royal and noble families. In 1650 a wall was erected to protect the diverse edifices of the priory. The present-day château was built as a residence for the prioress in 1780.[1]

Val-Duchesse played an important role as a venue for negotiations in

European Economic Community and Euratom in 1958.[3] The first formal meeting of the Hallstein Commission, the first European Commission, under the presidency of Walter Hallstein, was held on 16 January 1958 at the château.[4]

From 23 to 25 April 1990, the château hosted the Western European Union International Conference, which agreed the sequence of accession of the Eastern European Countries of the former Warsaw Pact to European structures.[citation needed] More recently, it has twice hosted the Belgo-British Conference, in 2002 and 2006.

See also

References

  1. ^ Mignot Adolphe, Le Prieure De Val-Duchess en 1782, Brussels, Editions Universitaires, 1969, 157 pp.
  2. ^ Pierre-Henri Laurent, Paul-Henri Spaak and the Diplomatic Origins of the Common Market, 1955-1956, Political Science Quarterly, Vol. 85, No. 3 (Sep., 1970), pp. 373–396
  3. ^ "Conférence intergouvernementale pour le Marché commun et l'Euratom". Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2008.
  4. ^ Procès-verbal de la première réunion de la Commission tenue le 16 janvier 1958 à Val Duchesse (Bruxelles), CEE/C/9 f/58 (rév.) mb, Annexe II. Bruxelles: Commission de la Communauté économique européenne, 5 February 1958

External links