This photochrome print of the Château des Comtes in Namur is part of “Views of Architecture and Other Sites in Belgium” from the catalog of the Detroit Publishing Company (1905). Located in central Belgium, about 65 kilometers from Brussels, the town of Namur is known for its military history and its key role in Belgium’s defense. The town was founded on a rocky spur, at the confluence of the Sambre and the Meuse rivers. A main feature of the town is its stone citadel, which was built by the Merovingians in the early Middle Ages. The citadel was reconstructed around 1230 during the reign of Louis IX (St. Louis) of France (1214–70). Within the fortress is the Château des Comtes, which served as the main residence of Namur’s counts from the 10th to the 15th century. As a result of numerous sieges in the course of successive European wars, particularly those mounted by Louis XIV of France in 1692 and William III of England in 1695, few of Namur’s historic buildings remain, but the towering citadel survived as an iconic feature of the town.