Hello to you,


Welcome to the site. The origin of this one goes back to 2010. A basic 3D model of the city of Neufchâteau as well as the city was developed and shared there.


It was the first virtual representation of the city in the Middle Ages with the knowledge then acquired: a rare but valuable and valuable literature, limited archaeological excavations, scanty ruins but an immense local enthusiasm to revive this lost castle. To model this heritage with maximum precision, computer tools had limited computing capabilities. Accessible (free) software was somewhat rudimentary.

How much has changed since then !
New excavations were undertaken by the Public Service of Wallonia with the discovery of a courtyard curtain and two castle towers mentioned in literature some fifty years earlier. The architect of this project (Mr Christian Kellen) published a remarkable book ("Le château retrouvé",2010. Weyrich Editions) with all these recent discoveries. In recent years computer tools have also developed. The computing power of new computers as well as the development of new 3D modeling software and virtual reality open up new horizons.
With a little more free time now, the opportunity was too good. This 3D model of the castle and the village of Neufchâteau dating from almost 10 years ago could not remain in the state.

All this digital revolution brings us a range of new tools that can be used to boost our creativity and achieve goals out of mind not so long ago. The proposal here is to refine this castle of the Middle Ages (today disappeared) in the city of Neufchateau in the sixteenth century with all these recent progress mentioned above. This small project is the fruit of an interdisciplinary activity made of bibliographical research, interpretation of a painting of the seventeenth century, expert consultations, investigations in the state archives via the Internet, mathematical reflections, analysis of satellite images, processing of photographic images, 3D modeling with a construction in immersive virtual reality as apotheosis .
All necessary software and information sources are available for public use by major international organizations (NASA, ESA, Blender, etc ...) or local libraries at no cost with a large community of users around the world for all the support required. Only rigor, patience, tenacity and a touch of playfulness are enough.
Free course is sometimes left to the imagination for the missing pieces of this puzzle. It is not an archaeological reconstruction stricto sensu but rather a suggestion. Use was made of some university textbooks of reference in medieval architecture for maximum credibility in this exercise of reconstitution. Not everything is described in the archives and some things are suggested based on overlaps or historical references. An example: the establishment of the castle is no longer questionable but no one is able to describe the castle in all its architectural accuracy. It will be then made use of great known principles on medieval fortifications to fill these gaps.
May this little site arouse the interest of everyone by dusting the story with the help of these new technologies!
Without pretension he wants to be simply a small contribution to the History of the Land of Neufchâteau. Should it cultivate the entrepreneurial spirit to want to preserve all this heritage with the greatest respect.

My thanks also go to Mr Christian Kellen, the owner of the reconstruction of the castle, for sharing his enthusiasm for moving forward and Mr Luc Pierrard, President of the "Terre de Neufchâteau" Club, for all the rich documentation offered to date.

In memory of Mr Arsène Geubel with whom I had the pleasure of sharing some first results of my project eight years ago.

In tribute to

Mr. Arsène Geubel (1913-2010) and Mr. Louis Gourdet (1897-1992), without whom the knowledge of our heritage of the Land of Neufchâteau would not be where it is today,
Mr. Louis Lejeune (1937-2009) and Mr. Roger Laurent (1925-2001), great defenders of the heritage of the Land of Neufchâteau,
and all the other deceased people who have contributed to the promotion of this lost local heritage.




Alain Klepper
December 10, 2018