Castle of the Counts

Description

You will drive past the remains of the Castle of the Counts, on your right. In the late 11th century, the Montaigu, the first Lords of Rochefort, built a fortress on a rocky spur. This stronghold - of which currently only the old castle walls and donjon remain - gave its name to the small town that developed at the foot of the castle. In fact, Rochefort stems from Rocha fortis which literally means strong castle ‘fortress’ (château fort in French). In 1285, Thierry de Walcourt granted the Charter of Liberties to the burghers of Rochefort. At the time, the town was booming, and Thierry de Walcourt enfranchised the burghers who lived in the small town enclosed within the town walls. The Walcourt family’s coat of arms is now the shield of Rochefort, a fortified town populated by privileged burghers.
After 1795, the possessions of the clergy and the nobility were nationalized. Sold as a national asset, the castle was used as a quarry by pragmatic townsfolk, and used for the construction of quite a few town houses, as well as for the construction of the Château Cousin (a neo-gothic manor near the castle) in 1906 by the engineer Emile Cousin.