The Castle of Freÿr with its gardens in the style of Le Nôtre is located in Wallonia on the left bank of the Meuse, between Waulsort and Dinant. They form one of the most magnificent natural sites in Belgium. It has been classified as one of Wallonia's major heritage sites. It is often called a greatly reduced Versailles. Originally a Renaissance castle, it was extended in the 18th century and was once the residence of dukes and their royal guests. It has gardens including orange trees. The more than three-hundred-year-old orangeries are the oldest in the Low Countries.
The castle of Freÿr seen from the Meuse
Site of the château and its gardens on the fertile river bottomland in front of the Rochers de Freyr with at the bottom the lionhead shaped rock
Orange garden
This terracotta fertility goddess reminds of Freya, twin-sister of Freyr.
An orangery or orangerie is a room or dedicated building, historically where orange and other fruit trees are protected during the winter, as a large form of greenhouse or conservatory. In the modern day an orangery could refer to either a conservatory or greenhouse built to house fruit trees, or a conservatory or greenhouse meant for another purpose.
Orangery in Kuskovo, Moscow (1760s)
Glazed roof at Fota House Orangery, Fota Island, Ireland
The Orangerieschloss built by Frederick William IV of Prussia in Potsdam in the mid-19th century
The orangerie of the Royal Castle of Laeken, Belgium (ca.1820), is the oldest part of the monumental Royal Greenhouses of Laeken.