Talk:Château of Val-Duchesse

Article title
I think a more appropriate title for this article would use Chateau in the name rather than Castle. I also think that the translation of the name is pointless, as most of the historical references in English use "Val Duchesse" rather than Valley of the Duchess. Everybody got to be somewhere! (talk) 21:59, 16 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Yes, maybe 'Chateau' is more appropriate, or perhaps 'Palace'? They would certainly describe it better than 'castle', in my opinion.
 * It is closer to a small baroque Stately Home than a Palace
 * While I agree that there are probably many more references to "Val Duchesse", I think calling it that would run into the same problem faced many times with regards to Brussels articles - i.e. is there justification to choose the French over the Dutch? Translating it into English at least avoids that issue. (For example, for the same reason, we have the Saint Gaugericus Island page, despite the fact that it's almost never called that when referred to in English.) --David Edgar (talk) 11:25, 17 June 2009 (UTC)


 * You mean that we have bend English and make articles virtually inaccessible in order to please a handful of loony Flemish Nationalists?
 * English consistently uses the French names to refer to places in Belgium. Ask an Englishman where Ieper is and he won't know. Say Ypres and recognition is instant. In Dutch Val Duchesse is Hertoginnedal. Maybe a solution would be to include the Dutch name once in the title of the article: e.g. Val Duchesse/Hertoginnedal. Val Duchesse is a chateau rather than a palace. There are other sites in Brussels that are palaces such as the Palais Egmont/Egmontpaleis. Think also of usage, we speak of the Chateaux of the Loire rather than the Castles of the Loire. Everybody got to be somewhere! (talk) 01:21, 27 July 2009 (UTC)
 * We've actually agreed on a set of naming conventions since then, see above. If the French is used more in English, that should be what the article's called. (Although I haven't looked into it myself). And Saint Gaugericus Island has thankfully moved.  Oreo Priest  talk 21:25, 10 October 2009 (UTC)
 * Actually, it's Hertoginnendaal, with the extra "n" as a form of genitive. The French term Chateau includes the English Stately Home, which is not necessarily a Castle. It is in a Francophone area, and the Flemish version is rarely used.

Today's move of this article to a title of Castle of Val-Duchesse seems to me to be the worst of both worlds. The hyphenation doesn't fit with english usage, The 'castle' is physically wrong if not linguistically, and we now have a name which isn't properly English, French or Flemish/Dutch. When I visited the place for a conference the French version of the name was used on all correspondance from the British and Belgian authorities and if we are unhappy with the former "Castle of the Valley of the Duchess" (as indeed am I) I feel that going wholeheartedly to either the French (for preference) or Dutch versions would be much better than this half-way-to-nowhere position. --AlisonW (talk) 13:56, 7 September 2010 (UTC)
 * The hyphen isn't the real problem. It's a château, not a castle, so we should move it to a title the reflects this. Whether it's "of" or "de" is unimportant.  Oreo Priest  talk 15:09, 7 September 2010 (UTC)
 * As there appears to be no real opposition, and also having been hosted there several times, I think it time to make the changes:


 * 1) Yes to Château. It is not a palace, simply a Regency country house about half the size of its English counterpart Chevening.
 * 2) Invert French and Dutch in the Intro. You'd have another failure in the formation of the Government if Flanders tried doing that to Auderghem, whose mayor is Didier Gosuin, a leading FDF politician of the Francophone wing.
 * 3) Separate the Priory from the Château in the text.
 * 4) Correct the poor French translation: we talk of Thomas Aquinas, not Saint Thomas of Aquin, for example. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 188.29.86.153 (talk) 10:10, 1 December 2011 (UTC)
 * However, Aquinas is Latin, whereas the Italians use Tommaso d'Aquino, correctly referring to his natal town. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 176.251.182.189 (talk) 19:36, 21 April 2017 (UTC)

European Commission's Val-Duchesse Leisure Centre
You might also consider whether the adjoining Commission Staff Association Leisure centre/pool should or should not also be mentioned. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 176.251.182.189 (talk) 19:26, 21 April 2017 (UTC)