Borrekens Castle, Vorselaar, Belgium

Borrekens Castle was built around 1270 by a member of the Van Rotselaar family who were stewards of the Dukes of Brabant. They built this square water castle in a swampy area, close to the road Antwerp-Turnhout which was probably a part of the trade route to Cologne in Germany. It is built out of white Vilvoorde sandstone.

The castle stayed in the hands of the Van Rotselaar family until the beginning of the 16th century. Ownership then transferred to a Cornelis van Bergen and later to the Arensberg and Proost families.During the 17th century the castle was rebuilt by the Proost family. This caused financial difficulties for this family so they sold the castle to Phillipe Lodewijk de Pret, ex-mayor of Antwerp.His daughter married Karel-Philips van de Werve. His family rebuilt the castle in the second half of the 19th century and gave it its present neo-gothic appearance.

In 1898 the De Borrekens family became owner of the castle through marriage. They gave their name to the castle and still own it (the castle is in private use). The castle farm on the bailey dates back to 1686 but was rebuilt after a fire in 1920.

References:

castles.nl

Visby Cathedral

Visby Cathedral (also known as St. Mary’s Church) is the only survived medieval church in Visby. It was originally built for German merchants and inaugurated in 1225. Around the year 1350 the church was enlarged and converted into a basilica. The two-storey magazine was also added then above the nave as a warehouse for merchants.

Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.

There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.

Ieva Kuznecova (3 years ago)
Beautiful place

Luchi Domingo (3 years ago)
Private domain, a resident politely spoke to us though

Martha Turnbull (3 years ago)
Very beautiful, but very hard to see. You cannot visit the castle as it is a private residence.

luda edik (4 years ago)
This is a great park to walk and enjoy the castle. It's so quiet there.

Justyśka_ja (4 years ago)
Nice place, beautiful natute

Borrekens Castle

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