The Château des Fées or Château du Waridon

Château des Fées, also known as Château du Waridon, is a medieval fortress whose ruins are located on the upper reaches of the French Meuse at Le Waridon (commune of Montcy-Notre-Dame) in the Ardennes département, and whose origins date back to between the ninth and eleventh centuries.
The ‘Château des Fées’ is located at an altitude of 175 metres, on a natural hill called the Waridon, overlooking the Meuse at the point where two streams, the Fontaine and the Soiru, meet, to the north of Charleville-Mézières. The motte, which is oval in shape and 8.50 metres high, is separated from the rest of the plateau by a ditch. The south-western part of the site has been extensively damaged by recent quarrying. The exact circumstances surrounding the creation of the site remain uncertain; however, it is likely that a Roman settlement on the other side of the Meuse gradually expanded onto the slopes of the Waridon. In the late 9th or early 10th century, a fortification was built by Bernard, Count of Porcien. In 933, the site was captured and destroyed by Richer, Bishop of Tongeren. Only the motte has been excavated, revealing the remains of a primitive wooden building that occupied the top of the mound, but all that remains are the imprints of a few post holes.Subsequently, a rectangular stone structure (17.50 x 9.80 m), similar to an aula, seems to have replaced the wooden structure. A large part of the surviving walls are of herringbone construction. Three small annexes were added on either side of the aula. A layer of fire, in which crossbow bolts, arrowheads, Andenne-type ceramics and coins were found, suggests that the final destruction of the site dates from the first half of the 12th century.
The site has now been turned into a leisure area, but part of it can still be accessed via a short footpath.