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Hidden deep in the forests of the Ardennes near Celles, Belgium lies the forgotten ruins of Château de Miranda. The story begins during the French Revolution when the family of the Count of Liedekerke-Beaufort were forced to leave their feudal castle Château de Vêves and hide in a nearby farm. After numerous expansions of the farm, the opulent residence was built as a summer home for the family in 1866 by the English architect Milner, although he died before seeing its completion. The Château de Mirinda, as it was called then, was owned and used by the family except when it was briefly occupied by Nazi troops in World War II. From 1950 the castle (now known as Château de Noisy) was taken over by the National Railway Company of Belgium (NMBS) as a ‘holiday camp’ for children who suffered from ill health. After 1970 it was used for outdoor activities and sport holidays for children, and became well known in Belgium. Due to the cost of upkeep, the chateau was abandoned in 1991 and has sadly fallen into disrepair. The internal structure is now extremely unstable with collapsed floors caused by water and fire damage, but you can still see remnants of its faded glory. The site is now famous among the urban explorer community.
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Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. Founding member of the European Union, it covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres and has a population of about 10.7 million. From the end of the Middle Ages until the 17th century, it was a prosperous centre of commerce and culture. Upon its independence, Belgium eagerly participated in the Industrial Revolution and, at the end of the nineteenth century, possessed several colonies in Africa. Today, Belgium's strongly globalized economy and its transportation infrastructure are integrated with the rest of Europe. Its location at the heart of a highly industrialized region helps made it 2007 the world's 15th largest trading nation. Cultural life is nowadays concentrated within each language community and a variety of barriers have made a shared cultural sphere less pronounced. Anyway, the region corresponding to today's Belgium has seen the flourishing of major artistic movements that have had tremendous influence on European art and culture. Text extracted from wikipedia.
