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Rixensart

Le Château du Lac

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Places to see

Castles

Belgium

Wallonia

Wallonie

Walloon Brabant

Nivelles

Rixensart

Le Château du Lac

Recommended by 84 hikers out of 88

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Location: Rixensart, Nivelles, Walloon Brabant, Wallonie, Wallonia, Belgium

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Best Hikes to Le Château du Lac

4.4

(16)

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1. Lake Genval – The Little Mermaid of the Lake loop from Genval

10.4km

02:50

150m

Intermediate hike. Good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.

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Intermediate

4.1

(7)

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2. Lake Genval – The Little Mermaid of the Lake loop from Rosières

14.3km

03:52

190m

Intermediate hike. Good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.

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Intermediate

3.6

(8)

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3. The Little Mermaid of the Lake – Lake Genval loop from Maubroux

8.38km

02:16

120m

Intermediate hike. Good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.

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Intermediate

Tips

Willem VS

November 8, 2020

Castle on Lake Genval. This castle was built in 1904. Striking are the many round arches and the round-arched windows with sub-columns on the first floor, and the round tower. This gives the appearance a neo-Romanesque look. At the time it was a bathhouse, but today it serves as a hotel (this would be the only 5-star hotel in Walloon Brabant).

Daniel Vanhamme: 'I came to work there in 1964 as a 16 year old as a mechanic where the shweppes tonic was made in the cellar of the castle until a new factory was built between 1966 and 1970 a little further in the Rue Du Cerf'

belgiumview.com/belgiumview/tl1/view0002057.php4

Translated by Google •

December 23, 2024

Le Château du Lac is best known today as a 5-star hotel. Events are also often organised there and that is why I know it from a professional long-gone past. But the building, whether you call it a castle or rather a glorified villa, it does have a fairly intense past.

In the past, the mineral water of Genval was collected and bottled here. Together with the source of Bonne Fontaine, the Château du Lac was the true symbol of Genval-les-Eaux. The Etablissement des Eaux, as it was originally called, was built between 1905 and 1907 by the architect Julien Wendrickx, the future production director of the Compagnie Internationale des Eaux Minérales, to house the collection of sources and the bottling of the mineral water of Genval.

After the First World War and the receivership of the companies that managed the Genval site, the castle became the property of an English company before being taken over by the Princes of Merode, who leased the facilities to Schweppes Belgium. The Belgian branch was then managed by John Martin, an English brewer based in Antwerp, who had been importing beers from Great Britain and Ireland to the continent since 1909, including the famous Guinness. He obtained the exclusive production rights for the Schweppes range, which he transferred to Genval in 1952 following the deterioration in the quality of Antwerp's drinking water, which was now pumped into the Albert Canal. Since the divestment of Schweppes in 1988, the John Martin group has further diversified its range, with speciality beers (Timmermans, Gordon, etc.), soft drinks (Orangina) and fruit juices (Looza).

After the Schweppes factory moved to Rue du Cerf, the château, now owned by the Martin family, was converted into the five-star Château du Lac

Source: parismatch.be/lifestyle/voyages/2020/08/23/le-lac-de-genval-et-ses-villas-2D3Q25DBTVANBFBV5WXJG3R2NI

Translated by Google •

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Elevation 40 m

Weather

Tuesday 7 October

16°C

13°C

0 %

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Max wind speed: 9.0 km/h

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Location: Rixensart, Nivelles, Walloon Brabant, Wallonie, Wallonia, Belgium

Le Château du Lac

1. Lake Genval – The Little Mermaid of the Lake loop from Genval

2. Lake Genval – The Little Mermaid of the Lake loop from Rosières

3. The Little Mermaid of the Lake – Lake Genval loop from Maubroux

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