Bueren Castle is a 16th-century moated castle in Melle-Kwatrecht. The castle domain is 10 hectares and is located in two municipalities. The castle is named after Christophe-Bernard de Bueren, a scion of the Belgian noble family de Bueren.
In a lease from 1408 the castle is mentioned as Goed Ter Elst. The castle is surrounded by moats. According to Antoon Sanders, access was gained via a gate facade with an arch bridge to the courtyard with orchard in front of the castle. In front of the bridge over the inner wall stood a tower, probably with a dovecote. A drawbridge closed off the entrance to the castle. The octagonal stair tower has also disappeared. The current castle is built in Renaissance style. It was slightly modified in the 18th century and then modified and enlarged at the end of the 19th century with the replacement of the entrance bay and addition of the heavy corner tower (south-west) in the Neo-Renaissance style.
At the entrance bridge to the castle park there are two similar pavilions, a coach house, a horse stable and a staff residence. Each building was constructed with an octagonal Gloriette built against the outer corner. They probably date from the end of the 18th century.
The current bridge and barrier are probably from the 19th century. A plane tree, the access road to the castle from the Brusselsesteenweg, is now intersected by the Ghent-Mechelen railway from 1837. At the beginning of the plane tree lane is a Gloriette, which was converted into a residence at the end of the 19th century.
References:The Church of St Donatus name refers to Donatus of Zadar, who began construction on this church in the 9th century and ended it on the northeastern part of the Roman forum. It is the largest Pre-Romanesque building in Croatia.
The beginning of the building of the church was placed to the second half of the 8th century, and it is supposed to have been completed in the 9th century. The Zadar bishop and diplomat Donat (8th and 9th centuries) is credited with the building of the church. He led the representations of the Dalmatian cities to Constantinople and Charles the Great, which is why this church bears slight resemblance to Charlemagne's court chapels, especially the one in Aachen, and also to the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. It belongs to the Pre-Romanesque architectural period.
The circular church, formerly domed, is 27 m high and is characterised by simplicity and technical primitivism.