Mons’ 16th-century Renaissance Pavilion wins Belgium’s 2025 Heritage Challenge

The Renaissance Pavilion in Mons has been voted the nation’s favourite national treasure in Belgium.

In a public vote for the fifth edition of the Heritage Challenge, the abandoned site in Wallonia, dating from 1531, received 10,128 votes.

Eight outstanding landmarks from around the country were selected by the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK-IRPA) for the 2025 challenge.

The prestigious grand prize recognises an exceptional Belgian heritage treasure that deserves to be preserved, restored and showcased to the public.

KIK-IRPA also awarded a public prize to the sgraffito decorations of the Maison Dorée in Charleroi, which garnered 8,335 votes.

The garden pavilion in Mons is a unique example of Renaissance civil architecture. Located The openwork design of the portal, the engravings, the bas-reliefs and the coat of arms of Charles V make this building particularly rare.

But its long-term preservation has been under risk. Following a landslide in 1955, the pavilion collapsed and parts of the building stored in a dilapidated space.

The competition prize includes a €25,000 subsidy to help document and study the pavilion in preparation for its conservation and restoration.

These are the sites that were nominated for 2025:

• The sgraffito of the ‘La Maison Dorée’ in Charleroi
• The Chinese Pavilion in Laeken
• The icehouse of the Bedford House Cemetery in Ypres
• The shell paintings of the Brussels Institute of Natural Sciences
• The Renaissance Pavilion in Mons
• The Art Deco pool of the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp
• The Elisabeth D'Aubreby Van Swae collection pieces at the Fashion Museum in Hasselt
• The alabaster bas-reliefs of Gaasbeek Castle

The Heritage Challenge is supported by the National Lottery. 

Photos: ©KIK-IRPA, Brussels (Belgium); fragment ©Ville de Mons; ©KIK-IRPA, Brussels (Belgium); fragment ©Ville de Mons