Gaasbeek Castle, Lennik, Belgium

Gaasbeek Castle, today a national museum, was erected around 1240 to defend the Duchy of Brabant against the County of Flanders. The castle was destroyed however by Brussels city troops in revenge for the assassination of Everard t'Serclaes, which was commanded by the Lord of Gaasbeek.

At the beginning of the 16th century the Horne family constructed a brick castle on the ruins of the medieval fortress. In 1565 Lamoral, Count of Egmont, acquired the castle and its domain, including feudal rights in 17 surrounding villages. Accused of high treason by Philip II of Spain, the Count of Egmont was beheaded three years later.

In the following centuries the castle was inhabited by several noble families. It obtained its pseudo-medieval appearance as the result of a renovation during the years 1887-1898. The works were executed by the architect Charles Albert and ordered by the Marquis d'Arconati Visconti who owned the castle at that time. His widow Marie Peyrat (d. 1922) donated the castle to the Belgian state, including the art collection and the grounds.

Since 1980 the castle has been owned by the Flemish Community. The castle contains impressive art collections displayed in lavishly decorated historical rooms. A remarkable collection piece is the authentic testament of the famous painter Peter Paul Rubens The castle and its grounds (a park of 50 hectares or 124 acres) are open to the public.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

Steven Vantorre (2 years ago)
Very pleasant stay. Everything is automated, ensuring your privacy and peace of mind. Accommodation is top notch. Ideal location for cycling, walking or visiting Brussels. In addition, a great breakfast buffet with something for everyone.

Martijn Verboom (3 years ago)
A very cozy restaurant with friendly staff and also very helpful. The card offers something for everyone. The stew they offer was very well cooked and butter tender, it slides right off your knife and the fresh fries were very perfectly cooked and crispy.

Martha Turnbull (3 years ago)
Great food, service and decent prizing.

Davy Vindevogel (5 years ago)
Super nice atmosphere, good service! And certainly grateful for the surplus for our mum's birthday (music + "firework stick"). Definitely worth repeating !!!

Cath. Verh. (5 years ago)
First .... a lot of flies, also in the kitchen! That madame is super burly. Normally now the menus are via QR code or something, no there are still papers that they pass on and that were dirty. They didn't have a drink menu, you just had to say what you wanted and she would say whether it was there or not. Then I ask for tomato shrimp, they didn't have that. She says "will say differently what we actually have", from the whole map it was only chateau Briand, scampi and Cod

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Zvonimir Hrvoj

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