Halte Royale d'Ardenne - Train station

This station was once known as the "Royal Ardennes stop”, which referred to the Royal Ardennes Castle built in 1874 by King Leopold II. He wanted to turn Houyet into Belgium’s tourist hub and had the castle converted into a superb luxury hotel for the crowned heads and the privileged few of this world. From 1898 onwards the hotel was managed by the famous ‘Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits’ (French for ‘International Sleeper Car Company’). After the construction of a railway line between Gendron-Celles and Houyet, railway line that was inaugurated on 01 April 1896, a station was built here in order to welcome the eminent guests staying the converted castle. Next to the rail, they built a thick round wall topped with a crenellated turret. The wall hides the road that leads to the castle, passing through the woods. In the seventies, several of the domain buildings were destroyed, but the ‘station’ remained untouched. As the hotel had been closed down after suffering heavy damages during the First World War, the station was also closed in 1919. A couple of years later, in 1921, the hotel was reopened but the station stayed closed for good.