It is located in the Belgian town of Beersel, south of Brussels. It has 3 ponderous watchtowers, and is surrounded by a wide moat.
The castle was built between 1300 and 1310 as a defense base for Brussels and was damaged during the war of succession of Brabant (1356-57), but was repaired just after that. In 1489 during a rebellion against Maximilian of Austria, the castle was sieged, taken and plundered by the Brusselians. It burnt down and was partially destroyed, but restored after the war.
A tiled roof was added in the 17th century, but the castle became unoccupied from the 18th century. In 1818, a cotton factory occupied the site of the fortress. The property passed by a series of owners until the last one donated the castle to the League of Friends of the Castle of Beersel in 1928, which restored it. In 1948, it passed to the Royal Association of Historic Residences in Belgium.
A drawing shows how it looked before
and when I visited it. The moat was empty because of renovation work. I couldn't take any pictures of the parc surrounding the castle, because that day the city of Beersel had organized a barbecue there.
The very heavy entrance door of the castle
embrasures all around
The stairs are terrible, like a screw taking you up to the towers !
In one quite nice preserved room there still was the chimney and the tiles
The ceiling
you can walk around these narrow ways all around the castle
but it is not very comfortable
Even early morning tourists where already there
I didn't take these steps, the staircase was so narrow !
On this old picture you can see how it should look like. The moat filled with water to keep the enemy away.
But it had been dried out for renovation
Before arriving at the castle you will find this nice restaurant/café just before the entrance.
on the patio was an old wine press
I had a coffee here before I returned home.
Beautiful fairytale castle.
ReplyDeleteDear Gattina,
ReplyDeleteI can't think of many things I would rather do than go through an old castle like this. When we were going down the Rhine River when we were in Europe, I saw all those castles on the hills. And I thought how much I would like to go in one of them. Thank you for this picture tour.
Wow! I think that's one of the most beautiful castle I've seen. It's soooo... well, don't laugh at me now: cute! *giggles*
ReplyDeleteI love the rounded style of it and that it's not gigantically big! Soooo nice!!!! I really, really love it!
...and I think the way you took there there sort of belongs together with the castle, like being thrown back in time.
I'd love to live there. Well after some restauration of course.... *giggles*
Now, why aren't I a millionaire? *disappointed*
wow! imposing structure! wish i can see it for real!
ReplyDeleteSuch a magical castles.
ReplyDeleteWonderful world.
Wow - what a magnificent castle. I love all those worn stones... I wonder whose feet have made them smooth through the ages?
ReplyDeleteThe Belgium castle is very huge and beautiful. You have captured the details beautifully.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful series of photo's Gattina. My husband would say, yes this looks like a real castle. It is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteGreat castle, but, yes, they were uncomfortable and drafty. Beautiful photos.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this interesting post Cattina!!! It's a pity you couldn't take pictures of the surrounding area. But all your photos are wonderful!!!
ReplyDeleteSooo old! It is a fantastic piece of history. Great post.
ReplyDeleteOh, if only those walls could speak and tell us what they have seen! What an amazing place!
ReplyDeletethe castle looked relatively well-preserved :) I like the informative post and the photos that went along with it.
ReplyDeleteAm planning to revisit nearby places too..it seems i've been busy visiting faraway places, i almost stopped visiting places nearer me.
I love the tour!! Coming from such a young country I'm fascinated by all the ancient places in Europe and that was one of the things I loved most about living in Europe for three years! We traveled as much as possible and this is the type of things that were the very most fun to visit! Truly delightful, Gattina! Thanks for such a great look at your world!
ReplyDeleteSylvia
Ohhhhh what a MAGNIFICENT old structure! I am soooo jealous! I can't even IMAGINE something built in the 1300's! And a castle! An honest to goodness CASTLE! *sigh* I am SO coming to Belgium one day!
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting place. For some reason the story of Rapunzel came to mind when I saw the photos.
ReplyDeleteThis looks like an interesting place to visit, thanks for sharing all these lovely photos.
ReplyDeleteThe pictures are beautiful. I hope (probably already healed by now?) your toothache are ... you know banished!
ReplyDeleteLove
as a kid rowing up in Brussels during the 40ies we used to play there in the castle. I left Belgium 65 years ago and am now back for a last visit. I was also stationed at the citadel of Namurand did my Comando training at the castel of Marche les Dames before going to Korea.
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