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Origin and history

The Château de Remilly-Aillicourt is a mansion built in the 3rd quarter of the 18th century by Antoine Raulin, Sedanese textile manufacturer. Started in 1774, its construction is part of a 35 hectare estate, with a central square building with a Mansart roof, framed by two curved low wings and side pavilions. The facade, made of stone, has ground windows and a central door decorated with carved cartridges. The ensemble forms a courtyard of honor closed by a wall and a portal with columns, reflecting the architectural influence of the era.

In 1777, even before its completion, the castle was bought by François Collin de Curemont, a lawyer at the Paris parliament and seigneur of Villers-devant-Mouzon. His daughter, Anne-Françoise Collin de Curmont, married Jean François Félix Dorival, President of the Court of the Duchy of Bouillon. The couple inherited the estate during the Revolution, when the duchy disappeared. The transmission continued by the women: their only daughter, Anne Françoise Thérèse Félix Dorival, married in 1803 General Louis Samuel Béchet de Léocour, Napoleonian officer anoblied by the Emperor.

In the 19th century, the castle passed to their eldest daughter, Thérèse Charlotte Constance Aglaé Béchet de Leocour, wife of Joseph Marie Lamour, collector and mayor of Remilly. The property remained in the Lamour-Béchet family until 1933, when it was sold. After serving as a holiday home, he was saved in the 1980s by Claudine and Philippe Mathieu, who undertook 34 years of restoration. Ranked a historic monument in 1984, it owes its preservation to their commitment.

The left wing of the courtyard, added around 1870, slightly altered the initial symmetry. The estate, which is reduced to five hectares, offers a view of the Meuse, while the main entrance overlooks the street of the Netherlands (D4B), a historic axis between Sedan and Mouzon. The interior staircase, with its wrought iron ramp, and the facades of the central body are among the elements protected by the 1984 inscription.

The castle illustrates the social rise of Sedanese manufacturers, linked to the textile industry, and their integration into the local aristocracy. Its architecture, combining classicism and elegance, bears witness to the stylistic influences of the 18th century, while its history reflects the political and family upheavals of the 19th and 20th centuries.

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