Dun-sur-Meuse Castle

Dun-sur-Meuse Castle, locally known as Château de Dun-le-Chastel, lies in the village of Dun-sur-Meuse, in the Meuse department in France.

Dun-sur-Meuse Castle started out as a hill fort on an 80 m high hill next to the river Meuse. In 1053, Godfrey III, Duke of Lower Lorraine, built a castle on the hill. This castle was modernized and strengthened by the Lords of Aspremont in 1402. These works probably turned the village into a castral village linked to the castle.

In 1592, during the French Wars of Religion, the Dun-sur-Meuse Castle, being a possession of the Duchy of Lorraine, was taken by the Duke of Bouillon, Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, for Henry IV of France. But only in 1641 was it definitively annexed to France. Louis XIII of France then ordered the dismantling of all the fortifications of the upper village, which took place between 1641 and 1650. It took until 1790 before the fortifications of the lower village were also demolished.

During World War I the upper village was occupied by the German forces and visited by the German Crown Prince; Wilhelm. The upper village was thoroughly destroyed during an American offensive in 1918.

Dun-sur-Meuse Castle, at present a small upper neighborhood of the village, is freely accessible. Of the castle itself not much remains but some foundations. The medieval village walls have survived better. A nice place to visit but mainly because of the views over the surrounding countryside and the Meuse river.

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