# Château Miranda

- **Country:** Belgium
- **Location Text:** Celles

Château Miranda, also known as Château de Noisy, was a magnificent 19th-century neo-Gothic castle located in Celles within the Namur province of Wallonia, Belgium. Commissioned by the Liedekerke-De Beaufort family and designed by English architect Edward Milner in 1866, the structure was built from stone and featured a prominent 56-meter clock tower. Although Milner died before its completion, construction continued until 1907. The castle served as a private residence for the family until World War II, during which it saw action in the Battle of the Bulge and was occupied by German forces.

Following the war, the property underwent a significant transformation when the National Railway Company of Belgium acquired it in 1950, renaming it Château de Noisy to operate as a holiday camp for children. This era lasted until the late 1970s, after which the building stood empty from 1991 due to prohibitive maintenance costs. Despite offers from the local municipality, the owning family refused to sell, leaving the massive structure to succumb to decay, vandalism, and fire damage. During its abandoned years, the eerie ruins became a popular destination for urban explorers and served as a filming location for the television series Hannibal and various movies.

Ultimately, safety concerns regarding the building's structural instability led to its demolition. Work began in October 2016 with the removal of the roof and concluded exactly one year later in October 2017, with the central tower being the final element removed. Today, the site no longer exists physically, though its architectural legacy persists through its influence on modern theme park designs, such as Frankenstein Manor at Universal Epic Universe. The castle remains remembered as a lost fairytale landmark of the Ardennes region.

![Photo of Château Miranda](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Castle_Miranda_front_side.JPG)

**Source:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miranda_Castle (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)