Commandery of the Knights Templar, Villers-le-Temple

Remains of the former Commandery of the Templars.

Gérard de Villers, a knight in the order of the Templars, received the lands of Villers and Clémodeau from the Abbey of Flône in 1260 in exchange for possessions of the Templar order in Haspengouw.
He founded a commandery for the Order on this estate. Upon the dissolution of the Order, the goods all passed into the hands of the Knights Hospitaller of Saint John of Jérusalem (which would become the Order of Malta in 1530).
Only the ramparts and a round tower of the old commandery have been preserved.

The community to which Gerard de Villers belonged is often referred to in a shortened form as the "Order of the Templars", but its full name is: "Poor Knighthood of Christ and the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem". He achieved sad notoriety when this order was dissolved by the French king and the pope in 1312 and many of its members met their violent end at the stake as alleged heretics. The main reason for the dissolution, however, was not the alleged human and religious misconduct of the members, but rather the legendary wealth of this order. King Philip IV of France primarily wanted to secure the treasures in order to supplement his coffers.

The remainder of the Commandery of the Knights Templar, Manoir de la Tour and Château de la Tour-au-Bois are located in the Villers-le-Temple district of Nandrin, whose origins go back to the Knights Templar.

Source: Wikipedia