Date

Circa 1910

Bishop Notger adopted the title of Prince-Bishop in 980. The prince-bishops of Liège wielded substantial political and economic power until their fall from power during the French Revolution. The Italianate Renaissance Palais des Prince-Evêques was begun under Arnould van Mulken (fl 1513-1540) in 1526. The first of its two courtyards is surrounded with 60 columns, the capital of each carved with a grotesque inspired by images of the New World and by Desiderius Erasmus's Praise of Folly (1511). The principal facade on the south was completely rebuilt after the fire of 1734 in the Louis XIV-Regency style under the direction of the Brussels architect Jean-André Anneessens, son of François Anneessens. The Palais was located next to St. Lambert's cathedral, which was destroyed in the Revolution; the palace became a Palais de Justice (courthouse). In 1849, a new west wing was built by the architect Jean-Charles Delsaux, in the same style as the old palace to accommodate the provincial government.