Le château de Rivieren, un fleuron dans l'histoire de cette commune de Ganshoren (au nord-ouest de Bruxelles Capitale. Le château de Rivieren est situé au cœur d'un domaine entouré d'un étang (vestige des douves médiévales), dans un parc de 10 ha, le parc Albert Ier.

Origines

Il est mentionné sur une carte des environs de Bruxelles datant de 1665, mais son histoire commence déjà au xiiie siècle, puisqu'il tient son nom des Seigneurs de Rivieren d'Aerschot. Son allure actuelle lui sera donnée grâce à François II de Kinschot, comte de Jette-Saint-Pierre et conseiller des finances des Archiducs Albert et Isabelle, qui lui confère un statut de véritable lieu de plaisance.

Le château présente des caractéristiques architecturales des plus intéressantes. La fortification d'origine ne nous a laissée qu'une tour carrée, intégralement faite de pierres. Au fil du temps, différentes parties s'y sont ajoutées, constituées de briques et séparées par des bandeaux et chaînages de pierre, tandis que les superbes douves et le pont levis disparaissent à jamais.

La notoriété et le dynamisme de ses propriétaires successifs permettront au domaine d'être érigé en baronnie dès 1638, avant de devenir comté en 1659.

C'est ensuite Gérard-François de Villegas, petit-fils de François II de Kinschot, qui hérite de l'ensemble. Plus tard, dans le courant du xviiie siècle, le château sera laissé à l'abandon jusqu'à ressembler à une ruine. Différents travaux de rénovation seront entrepris par le comte Ulric, descendant des Villegas et héritier du domaine.

De nos jours

Après avoir été anéanti par de terribles incendies, le château connait une nouvelle phase de rénovations au début du xxe siècle. En 1973 décède la veuve d'Albert de Villegas et en 1977, les fils de la dernière châtelaine vendent le bien à une société suisse, qui restaure à grands frais le château et ses dépendances, avant de les exploiter comme lieux d'événements et de séminaires.

Le château et le parc sont classés depuis 1983, comme seul et unique vestige d'origine médiévale et de style féodal dans la région de Bruxelles-Capitale.

Enfin, depuis 1998, le château de Rivieren n'a plus ouvert ses portes au grand public. Il est toujours en parfait état, il a pu traverser les siècles et échapper de justesse à la folie urbanistique bruxelloise des années 1950-1960.

Rivieren Castle (Ganshoren)


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Le Karreveld est le nom attribué à un ancien domaine de trois hectares et à une ferme-château à Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, une commune du nord-ouest de Bruxelles. Karreveld détermine également le nom d’un quartier de cette commune. Cet espace est également un parc public communal.

Un domaine vénérable

Le nom de Karreveld, en néerlandais Karel Veld ou «champ de Charles», trouverait son origine dans le passage de l'empereur Charles Quint à cet endroit. Ce récit folklorique est démenti par la datation d'actes officiels qui mentionnent le nom de « Karreveld » bien avant la naissance de Charles Quint.

Le nom Karreveld tire plus vraisemblablement son origine de « Karreelvelt » (champ de terre à briques), eu égard au fait que plusieurs briqueteries étaient encore en activité aux environs du domaine au début du xxe siècle.

Le nom de Carnevelt apparaît déjà dans un document, daté de 1253, à la suite de l'acte de donation fait par le Duc de Brabant, Jean Ier le Victorieux à son épouse Marguerite, fille de Saint Louis, Roi de France. La veuve de Jérôme Van Ghindertaelen vend le bien à un seigneur espagnol Don Garcia Osario y Borgia, en 1656. La famille de Villegas acquiert le bien, en 1780, pour le vendre à la commune en 1930.

Sur le tracé des boulevards de Grande Ceinture

Avant la Première Guerre mondiale déjà, le domaine est menacé de disparition. Abandonné par ses propriétaires, il est en outre sur le tracé des boulevards de Grande ceinture dont le prolongement au-delà du plateau de Koekelberg s’impose. Mais les amoureux du patrimoine et des espaces verts veillent au grain. Dans l’intervalle, le parc sert parfois de base aérienne pour les montgolfières, un vélodrome en bois y est ouvert lors de la fermeture de celui du bois de la Cambre et le château est reconverti en laiterie.

Une fois le tracé du boulevard officialisé, la commune de Molenbeek-Saint-Jean se préoccupe de son urbanisation. Pour avoir les coudées plus franches, elle rachète le domaine en 1930 à la famille du comte de Villegas pour la somme de 400 000 €. Il couvrait à l’époque 16 hectares qu’il s’agissait, pour partie, d’intégrer dans le boulevard de ceinture et les voiries adjacentes à lotir et de transformer le reste en parc autour au château restauré. Le nouveau bourgmestre Edmond Machtens (1902-1978) charge alors l’architecte communal Pierre De Bruyne de consolider le bâtiment qui menace ruine.

Un attrait pour le développement du quartier

La guerre et les priorités de la reconstruction retardent ensuite l’entreprise jusqu’au début des années 1950. À ce moment, la commune semble hésiter entre son ardent désir d’attirer la bourgeoisie dans le nouveau quartier et la conservation du patrimoine. Le classement du château et du site, effectif en 1955 seulement, met un terme à ses tergiversations. Enfin convaincue de l’atout que le Karreveld représente pour l’attrait du quartier, elle débloque les budgets nécessaires à sa restauration. Pour justifier la dépense auprès de ses administrés, le bourgmestre tire habilement prétexte de la proximité de l’exposition universelle de 1958 et s’arrange pour inaugurer le château restauré au mois d’août, alors que la manifestation bat son plein.

Au moment de son acquisition par la commune, en 1930, les murs du château étaient encore blanchis à la chaux, dissimulant ainsi la belle brique espagnole dont on peut profiter aujourd’hui. Les fondations ont d’abord été refaites, le château reposant jusque-là à même le sol, sur un terrain marécageux. Le château a ensuite été partiellement rebâti entre 1952 et 1958 selon le plan classique du manoir, à mi-chemin entre la ferme et le château seigneurial. La grange, située du côté est de la cour intérieure, a été reconstruite en premier lieu. À son extrémité sud, un podium met en valeur une cheminée monumentale provenant du château d’Havré. De l’autre côté se trouve une taverne surmontée d’une galerie à balustres de style élisabéthain.

À l’intérieur, l’ameublement ne s’est pas limité à une époque déterminée, reflétant ainsi les apports successifs de ses occupants. Le salon est de style renaissance tandis que les deux salles à l’étage sont francisées. Dans les combles, aux charpentes apparentes, se trouve aménagée une salle de réunion à caractère monacal, de style Meuse et Rhin. L’oratoire a été reconstitué dans l’aile gauche de l’ancienne hostellerie, sous la tourelle à campanile. De beaux bâtiments ont enfin été reconstruits sur les côtés ouest et nord.

Le parc a été réaménagé en tenant compte de ses particularités historiques. Les douves du château ont été converties en étang. Une demi-lune en moellons de pierre, formant corbeille de fleurs, a été dessinée juste devant. Elle abrite de nombreux bancs dans de petites alcôves. À l’arrière du bâtiment, derrière un écran de peupliers, un jardin à la française avec vasques de fleurs et haies d’ifs de forme géométrique a été créé. Il conduit vers une vaste frondaison protégeant le jardin du boulevard tout proche.

Deux chemins pavés bordent le site : le premier, bordé par un sous-bois, sert d’entrée monumentale éclairée depuis le boulevard Louis Mettewie ; le second, abrité derrière une haie, relie l’avenue Jean de La Hoese à l’avenue de la Liberté et sert de desserte aux villas riveraines. Il délimite une vaste pelouse plantée qui offre une belle perspective sur le flanc nord du château.On y observe de nombreuses essences rares comme des araucarias et des genévriers. Fait remarquable, pas moins de huit espèces de conifères sont présents sur le site : pins, thuyas, cèdres, douglas, faux cyprès, cryptomeria du Japon, ifs, épicéas.

Les autorités communales molenbeekoises y célèbrent les mariages, la grange du château est destinée aux manifestations culturelles de prestige, voire plus populaires tel le Marché de Noël. Depuis 1999, le château accueille en juillet, août et septembre le Festival Bruxellons!, un festival de théâtre, mais ouvert aux autres arts de la scène (magie, musique, cirque, ...). Le conseil communal y est également organisé.

Les studios du Karreveld

Une autre activité, artistique celle-là, débute pratiquement en même temps que l'organisation des courses cyclistes : Charles Pathé confie à Alfred Machin, la mission d'exploiter le premier studio de films en Belgique. C'est en 1912, chaussée de Gand, à Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, que prend naissance le cinéma belge. Plusieurs films de qualité dont les deux premiers longs métrages belges conservés La Fille de Delft mais aussi le prémonitoire Maudite soit la guerre sont tournés dans l'environnement des studios du Karreveld. Alfred Machin commande l'exécution dans ce lieu d'un studio vitré, des ateliers, une infrastructure pour les artistes ainsi qu'un mini-jardin zoologique qui accueillent des animaux exotiques tels que des ours, des chameaux et des panthères.

Kasteel Karreveld

Groot-Bijgaarden Castle is a 12th-century castle in Groot-Bijgaarden in the municipality of Dilbeek, Flemish Brabant, Belgium. The castle was built for Almaric Bigard, the first lord of Bigard. Groot-Bijgaarden Castle is situated at an elevation of 47 meters.

Architecture

Construction began in the early 12th century.

The castle is surrounded by a wide moat spanned by a bridge with five arches, leading to the drawbridge. The central part of the gatehouse dates from the 14th century.

A four-storey tower (the "dungeon", built 1347), 30 metres high, is by the side of the gatehouse.

The castle is in the Flemish Renaissance style, with red brick and a slate roof.

In 1902, the castle was very dilapidated and Raymond Pelgrims Bigard began renovations that lasted 30 years.

Parks and gardens

Garden architect Louis Fuchs created the 14-hectare park alongside the castle at the start of the 20th century. The park is open in spring every year since 2003 for an international flower exhibition with tulips from the Netherlands.

Groot-Bijgaarden Castle


Wemmel Castle is a former aristocratic estate in the centre of Wemmel in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. It was formerly the property of the noble house of Taye.

History

The castle was originally built as a fortification. In 1649 Philip-Albert Taye, 1st Marquess of Wemmel had his property redesigned in Baroque style. Inside he decorated the rooms with his heraldic crest. In the 17th and 18th centuries it was the main residence of the Marquess of Wemmel until Marie Josepha Taye, 6th Marquess of Assche and 3rd Marquess of Wemmel, married Jean-Antoine van der Noot. In 1838 the castle was sold to the mayor, Willem-Bernard Count of Limburg-Stirum. The house of Limburg-Stirum gave the estate to the local community.

Today

Today the estate is still the property of the municipality of Wemmel, and functions as town hall. The park is open to the public.

Wemmel Castle

The Palace of Laeken, is the official residence of the King of the Belgians and the royal family. It lies in the Brussels region, 5 km (3 mi) north of the city centre in the municipality of Laeken. It sits in a large park called the Royal Domain of Laeken, which is off-limits to the public. It was originally named the Castle of Schonenberg and is often referred to as the Royal Castle.

The palace at Laeken should not be confused with the Royal Palace of Brussels, in central Brussels, which is the official palace (not residence) of the King of the Belgians and from which state affairs are handled.

History

he palace was built at Laeken, then outside of Brussels, between 1782-1784 after the plans of the French architect Charles de Wailly under supervision of Louis Montoyer as a summer residence for the Governors of the Habsburg Netherlands, Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria and her husband Albert of Saxe-Teschen. Jean-Joseph Chapuis provided the royal furniture.

On 21 July 1803, Nicolas-Jean Rouppe, as commissioner of the department of the Dyle, received Napoleon at the Palace of Laeken. Napoleon stayed at Laeken with the Empress Josephine in August 1804 on his way from awarding the first Légion d'honneur to his invasion troops at Boulogne to his progress along the Rhine, and later during the Hundred Days in 1815 dated this proclamation prematurely from the palace:

To the Belgians and the inhabitants of the left bank of the Rhine. The ephemeral success of my enemies detached you for a moment from my empire. In my exile, upon a rock in the sea, I heard your complaint; the God of Battles has decided the fate of your beautiful provinces; Napoleon is among you; you are worthy to be Frenchmen. Rise in a body; join my invincible phalanxes to exterminate the remainder of these barbarians, who are your enemies and mine: they fly with rage and despair in their hearts.

After Belgian independence, Rouppe, as mayor of Brussels, received the new king Leopold I at the Palace of Laeken on 21 July 1831; the day of Leopold's coronation. The palace was partly destroyed by fire in 1890 and was rebuilt by Alphonse Balat. The French architect Charles Girault gave it its present outline in 1902. It has been the royal residence since Leopold I's accession to the throne in 1831. The domain also contains the magnificent Royal Greenhouses of Laeken, a set of monumental dome-shaped constructions, accessible to the public for a few days each year. They were designed as well by Alphonse Balat, with the cooperation of the young Victor Horta.

Upon their accession to the throne in 1993, King Albert II and Queen Paola preferred to remain living at Belvédère, a château on the grounds of the park surrounding the palace. The current occupants of the palace are King Philippe, Queen Mathilde and their four children.

Palace of Laeken


The de Viron Castle is a castle in Dilbeek, which houses the offices of the local authority.

History

It was built in 1863 by the Jean-Pierre Cluysenaar, commissioned by the de Viron family, which settled in Dilbeek in 1775. The Tudor-style castle was built on the ruins of a 14th-century fortification which was destroyed in 1862. One of the medieval towers, the Sint-Alenatoren, can still be seen in the park surrounding the current building. It is named after Saint Alena, who lived in Dilbeek.

On his visit to this fort, Charles V was reportedly served rabbit instead of his favourite hare, which resulted in the nickname konijnenfretters (rabbit eaters) for the inhabitants of Dilbeek.

It became the town house of Dilbeek in 1923, and was protected as a monument in 1990.

Architectury

The castle counts 12 towers, 52 rooms, 365 windows and 7 staircases. This refers to the Julian Calendar which has 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days and 7 days in a week. The castle lies in a parc, with several other buildings of interest : a farm, an ice cellar and a stagecoach building.

De Viron Castle

The Palace of Charles of Lorraine is a neoclassical palace in Brussels, Belgium. It served as the residence of Charles Alexander of Lorraine, the Governor-General of what was then Austrian Netherlands from 1744 to 1780. The palace currently houses a museum.

Located on what is now the Museum Square, the palace is located near the Coudenberg hill, not far from nearby institutions such as the Place Royale/Koningsplein (the Belgian Royal Palace), as well as the Royal Library, the national library of Belgium.

History
Charles of Lorraine was the governor of the Austrian Netherlands from 1744 to 1780. He was an avid art and science enthusiast and collector. His palace, the construction of which started in 1757, later housed the Royal Library’s reading rooms.

An impressive staircase, adorned with a statue of Hercules sculpted by Laurent Delvaux, leads up to the first-floor rotunda. The rotunda’s paving includes a central rosette made up of 28 types of Belgian marble, a sample of the Prince’s collection of 5,000 minerals. This wonderful floor art leads to five rooms decorated with stuccos and silk, where the governor would entertain his guests and take care of state affairs.

Since 2001, the palace has been listed as a protected monument.

https://www.kbr.be/en/venue/palace-of-charles-of-lorraine/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Charles_of_Lorraine

Palace of Charles of Lorraine

The Royal Palace of Brussels is the official palace of the King and Queen of the Belgians in the centre of the nation's capital Brussels. However it is not used as a royal residence, as the king and his family live in the Royal Palace of Laeken on the outskirts of Brussels. The website of the Belgian Monarchy describes the function of the palace as follows:

The Palace is where His Majesty the King exercises his prerogatives as Head of State, grants audiences and deals with affairs of state. Apart from the offices of the King and the Queen, the Royal Palace houses the services of the Grand Marshal of the Court, the King's Head of Cabinet, the Head of the King's Military Household and the Intendant of the King's Civil List. The Palace also includes the State Rooms where large receptions are held, as well as the apartments provided for foreign Heads of State during official visits.

The palace is situated in front of Brussels Park. A long square called the Paleizenplein/Place des Palais separates the palace from the park. The middle axis of the park marks both the middle peristyle of the palace and the middle of the facing building on the other side of the park, which is the Palace of the Nation (the Belgian Federal Parliament building). The two facing buildings are said to symbolize Belgium's system of government: a constitutional monarchy.

As often mentioned, it has a facade 50% longer than that of Buckingham Palace but its floor area of 33,027 m2 is less than half of Buckingham Palace's floor area (77,000 m2).

History

The facade existing today was only built after 1900 on the initiative of King Leopold II. The first nucleus of the present-day building dates from the end of the 18th century. However, the grounds on which the palace stands were once part of the Coudenberg Palace a very old palatial complex that dated back to the Middle Ages.

The first building on the Coudenberg hill was constructed between the second half of the 11th and first half of the 12th century. At that time it probably looked like a fortified castle forming a part of the fortifications of the city of Brussels. It was the home of the Dukes of Brabant who also resided in the nearby city of Leuven and in the Castle of Tervuren. In the following centuries it was rebuilt, extended and improved in line with the increased prestige of the Dukes of Brabant and their successors; the Dukes of Burgundy, the Emperor Charles V, the Archduke Albert of Austria and Infanta Isabel of Spain and successive Governors of the Habsburg Netherlands.

The Aula Magna, or Throne Room, was built for Philip the Good in the 15th century. It was in this room that the Emperor Charles V abdicated in 1555 in favour of his son Philip II of Spain. This prestigious complex was unfortunately destroyed by a fire on February 3, 1731. The ruins only disappeared when the district was redeveloped after 1775. At that time the urban axes of the present-day Brussels Park were laid out. The Place Royale was built on top of the ruined palace. Excavations of the site by different archeological organisations have unearthed various remains of different parts of the Palace as well as the surrounding town. The monumental vaults remaining under the square and its surrounding buildings can be visited.

The New Palace
Charles Alexander of Lorraine, at that time Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands had a new palace, the Palace of Charles of Lorraine, built on the nearby site of the former palace of the Nassau family (Hof van Nassau). The Palace of Charles of Lorraine is now part of the Royal Library of Belgium. The old palace garden was redesigned as a public park. On the north side a new building for the Council of Brabant (Raad van Brabant / Conseil de Brabant) was built by the French architect Gilles Barnabé Guimard, which today houses the Belgian Federal Parliament and is known as the 'Palace of the Nation'. On the other side of the park (the building plot of the present-day palace) the middle axis of the park continued as a street between two newly built mansions. One served as the residence of the Abbot of the nearby Coudenberg Abbey, while the other was inhabited by important government members.

After the Congress of Vienna in 1814, Brussels became (together with The Hague) the joint capital of the new established United Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was under the rule of William I of the Netherlands that the street was covered and the two mansions were joined with a gallery. The newly created 'palace' received a new neo-classic facade designed by Tilman-François Suys with a peristyle in the middle, and a balcony with a wrought iron parapet surrounding the entire first floor.

The street running alongside the new palace was widened and thus the Place des Palais or Paleizenplein was created. The new square was called 'Square of the Palaces' in plural, because another palace was built on the left side of the Royal Palace. This new building (1823) was designed as the residence of the Crown Prince called the Prince of Orange (the later King William II of the Netherlands). Today it houses the Royal Academies of Sciences and Arts of Belgium and is consequently called Academiënpaleis / Palais des Academies. The rooms and 'Salons' of the old mansions were incorporated in the new Royal Palace and were only partly refurnished. Some of them survived al the 19th and 20th century renovations and are still partly intact today. A major addition to the interior decoration from the time of William I is the so-called 'Empire room' which was designed as a ballroom. It has a very refined cream and gold decoration designed and executed by the famous French sculptor François Rude.

Extensions by Leopold II

After the Belgian revolution the palace was offered to Leopold of Saxe-Coburg when he ascended the throne as the first King of the Belgians. Just like his predecessor William II he used the palace mainly for official receptions and other representational purposes and lived in the Royal Palace of Laeken. During his reign (until 1865) little was changed to the palace. It was his son and successor Leopold II who judged the building to be too modest for a king of his stature, and who kept on enlarging and embellishing the palace until his death in 1909. During his reign the palace nearly doubled in surface. After the designs of his architect Alphonse Balat, imposing rooms like the 'Grand Staircase', 'Throne Room' and the 'Grande Gallerie' were added. Balat also planned a new façade but died before the plans could be executed.

It was only after 1904 that the new façade was executed after new plans by Henri Maquet. The pediment sculpture shows an allegorical figure of Belgium flanked by groups representing Industry and Agriculture, by Belgian sculptor Thomas Vinçotte. The new design included a formal front garden separating the building from the 'Place des Palais'.

Royal Palace of Brussels

The Egmont Palace (French: Palais d'Egmont, Dutch: Egmontpaleis) is a neoclassical palace in Brussels, Belgium. It is situated in the Sablon/Zavel district, between Rue aux Laines/Wolstraat and the Petit Sablon Square. Today, it houses the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

History

The original mansion was built between 1548 and 1560 by Françoise of Luxembourg and her son, Lamoral, Count of Egmont, first in a Flemish Gothic, and later Renaissance style. The fabric was dramatically transformed in the 18th century, when the property passed onto the Arenberg family, and the building was clothed in a neoclassical style. The plans for this stage are attributed to the early advocate of neoclassicism, Giovanni Niccolò Servandoni. After a fire demolished the oldest part of the building in 1891, it was reconstructed in a uniform neoclassical style.

The venue hosted the fencing events for the 1920 Summer Olympics in the garden.[1] After World War I, the German Arenberg family was forced to sell the building to the City of Brussels. In 1964, it was sold to the Belgian state. In 1977, the Egmont pact on the Belgian state reform was signed in the Egmont Palace during the second administration of then Prime Minister of Belgium Leo Tindemans.

Since 1992, the palace has been listed as a protected monument.[2] Nowadays, it is used for receptions and meetings by the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and hosts many events organised by the Royal Institute for International Relations.

Egmont Palace

Bouchout Castle (Dutch: Kasteel van Bouchout) is a castle in the Flemish town of Meise, Belgium. In the 12th century, this territory of the young Duchy of Brabant was strategically positioned between the County of Flanders and the Berthout family, lords of Grimbergen. Most likely, the first fortification was built by Wouter van Craaynem at the end of the Grimbergen Wars (1150–1170). Bouchout Castle is situated at an altitude of 32 meters.

At about 1300, the Donjon tower of Bouchout Castle was erected by Daniel van Bouchout, a knight who fought gloriously at the Battle of Worringen. In the 15th and 16th century, Bouchout Castle was owned by the Van der Marck and van Sevenbergen sayd Transylvanus families. The castle fell into disrepair due to lack of maintenance, while the Spanish dominance and the iconoclastic fury further worsened its condition.

The first major renovation was performed by Christoffel d'Assonville at about 1600. The rectangular medieval Bouchout Castle was surrounded by a large pond and could only be reached by a long drawbridge. At the end of the 17th century, Peter-Ferdinand Roose transformed the castle into a Renaissance "Chateau de Bouchout", surrounded with French ornamental gardens. Unfortunately, the castle was partly destroyed during the French Revolution period (1800–1830). Again, the castle was restored in 1832 by count Amadeus de Beauffort, who gave Bouchout Castle its current Neo-Gothic appearance.

From 1879 until 1927, Empress Charlotte of Mexico lived at the Bouchout Domain. Her husband Emperor Maximilian I was executed by Mexican republicans in 1867. Thereafter Charlotte led a secluded life at Bouchout Castle. Since 1939, the Bouchout Domain has developed into the National Botanic Garden of Belgium. Since the last renovation of 1987–1989, the castle and its rooms are now being used for meetings, lectures and exhibitions.

Origins

During the first part of the 12th century, the territory of Bouchout (alternative spelling Boechout and pronounced as Book-Howt), played an important role in the foundation of the Duchy of Brabant. This Brabant territory was strategically positioned between the County of Flandres and the rebellious knights of Grimbergen. In the centre, the original territory was swampy and mainly consisted of beech trees. It was called "Boc-holt", which may point towards the origin of the castle's name, Boekhout.

During this period, Godfrey I, Duke of Leuven settled peace with the Count of Flandres, so he could focus on establishing a stable Duchy. He experienced however that the Berthouts, lords of Grimbergen, were not loyal to him. The Berthout family owned a mighty castle at Grimbergen and thereby controlled the important trade routes from Bruges to Cologne (Germany). Despite a number attempts, Godfrey I and II did not succeed in defeating the Berthout family (Grimbergen Wars).

Godfrey III decided to build two fortifications in the direct vicinity of Berthout Castle. The first one, Nedelaar Castle, was constructed in 1148 directly at the other side of river Zenne. The second one, at the Bouchout Domain, was constructed by Wouter van Craaynem (Kraainem, Crainhem) who received the domain from Godfrey III. At that same period, in 1159, the Brabant troops assisted by Flanders, defeated the Berthout family after twenty years of Grimbergen wars. The once so mighty Berthout Castle was burnt completely.

It is not completely clear how Bouchout Castle looked like in the second half of the 12th century. According to Cantillon the fortification was already a strong castle. However, Willem van Craaynem, who inherited the Bouchout domain from his father Wouter, only owned about 300 to 400 acres of land at about 1160–1170. As for many minor noblemen at that time, it is therefore also possible that "Bouchout Castle" was no more than a fortified house at the centre of the swampy Bouchout domain.

The Donjon tower

Daniel van Bouchout (Boechout and also Wanghe), the grandson of Willem van Craaynem, is one of the most famous members of the Bouchout family. He was the first one to use the name "Van Bouchout" and fought at the Battle of Worringen in 1288. It was Daniel who played a major role in capturing Reinoud van Gelre resulting in a glorious victory for duke Jan I van Brabant. Thereafter knight Daniel van Bouchout became one of the duke's advisors.

Several sources, including Doperé and Ubregts, strongly suggest that it was knight Daniel who transformed the former fortified house into a mighty castle at about 1300. It included a large Donjon and five subsequent canals with an enormous drawbridge of 10 m (33 ft) in length. The Donjon tower is still preserved and is believed to be the oldest part of the current Bouchout Castle. This military Donjon has two levels and a platform. Each level has functional loopholes. The Neo-Gothic windows at level one most likely were made during the renovations of 1832, while the right-angled windows of level 2 are more original. The upper platform has battlements and merlons. At the court site, the coat of arms of the Bouchout family is visible (a red cross).

A second historical member of this family was knight Jan van Bouchout (c. 1320–1391), grandson of Daniel. In 1355, Duchess Johanna succeeded her father, Duke Jan III of Brabant. This succession led to a war with Flanders, since its Lord – Louis II, Count of Flanders – was married with Margaret, the second daughter of Duke Jan III. The Brabant forces were beaten in 1356 at Scheut and most likely also Bouchout Castle was taken. After peace was restored, Jan became commander of Brussels. He fought against the Lord of Gerle at the battle of Baesweiler in 1371, but the Brabant troops were defeated. In 1386 however, he led a successful attack on the city of Grave at the river Meuse, thereby restoring his military distinction. Jan married Joanna van Hellebeke, but the couple did not get any heirs. It is known, however, that Jan was the father of a large number of natural descendants, who are known as "the children of Bouchout".

At the end of the 14th century, the Bouchout family extended their properties which included Blaasvelt, Humbeek, van Loenhout and Diepensteyn Castle. The direct family line became extinct however and the last representative, Margareta van Bouchout, married Everhard van der Marck in the middle of the 15th century. Thereafter, Bouchout Castle was owned by the Van der Marck family (1476–1537) and the Transylvan family (1537–1590). During this period Bouchout Castle fell into disrepair due to lack of maintenance. Moreover, the Spanish dominance of the Netherlands in the 16th century and the iconoclastic fury of 1566 further worsened its condition.

Bouchout Castle


Het kasteel combineerde een "maison de plaisance" met een landbouwfunctie. Het oorspronkelijke, rudimentaire aanlegpatroon bleef grotendeels bewaard, maar het gros van de beplantingen dateert van na de Eerste Wereldoorlog. Het domein is gelegen ten noordwesten van de dorpskern van Sint-Ulriks-Kapelle en ten zuiden van de autosnelweg E40, en heeft twee toegangsdreven van op de Lumbeekstraat die elkaar kruisen voor de toegang tot het kasteel.

Het kasteel

Historiek

Op de Ferrariskaart (circa 1770-1778) is reeds een omwalde site met gebouwen zichtbaar op deze locatie. Deze site stond nog niet weergegeven op een kaart van circa 1734 van Sint-Ulriks-Kapelle in het kaartenboek van de abdij van Groot-Bijgaarden. Bij de bouw van het nieuwe kasteel in 1773 bleef de oude omgrachting behouden met waarschijnlijk enkele wijzigingen: de oostelijke en de zuidelijke grachtarm werden rechtgetrokken ten opzichte van de Farrariskaart. Van de oorspronkelijke bebouwing op de site bleef niets bewaard in tegenstelling tot wat Verbesselt beweert, namelijk dat de twee hoektorens op de zijvleugels een overblijfsel zijn van een ouder kasteel op deze site. De naam van het nieuwe kasteel zou volgens Verbesselt afkomstig kunnen zijn van het kasteel van Kapelle (Walleweg nummers 3 en 5), gelegen ten oosten van het dorpscentrum, dat oorspronkelijk een motte was.

Architect Laurent-Benoît Dewez die in 1773 het kasteel bouwde was hofarchitect onder landvoogd Karel van Lotharingen (1741-1780) van 1767 tot 1780 en vertegenwoordigde de classicistische bouwstijl in de Oostenrijkse Nederlanden. Tot zijn belangrijkste realisaties hoorden onder andere het kasteel van Seneffe in Henegouwen (circa jaren 1760) en het tuchthuis in Vilvoorde (circa 1770). Zijn grafsteen bevindt zich in de kerk van Groot-Bijgaarden. Hij bouwde het kasteel voor zijn schoonmoeder, Petronella Servaes, de weduwe van Pierre-Jozef Mertens (zie ingemetste steen in de westgevel van het hoofdgebouw "Me Posuit/ P. Servaes Vid/ P.J. Mertens/ 1773"). In een artikel in het tijdschrift "Nos Châteaux historiques" (1934) wordt verkeerdelijk beweerd dat Dewez het kasteel voor zichzelf bouwde.

Het kasteel werd kort na de bouw in, 1822 of 1823, verkocht aan Philippe-Joseph-Antoine de Coullemont de Waterleet. Zijn grafsteen staat aan de binnenzijde van het plein tegen de afsluitingsmuur. Na zijn dood kwam het kasteel in handen van zijn erfgenamen en wisselde gedurende de 19de eeuw en begin 20ste eeuw verschillende malen van eigenaar.

Pas eind 19de eeuw werd het park uitgebreid en kon de toegangsdreef die van noord naar zuid loopt doorgetrokken worden tot aan de straat, weliswaar met een gebogen tracé. De samenvoeging van deze gronden werd op het kadaster geregistreerd in 1895. Het park kreeg eind 19de - begin 20ste eeuw ook een wat meer "landschappelijk" uitzicht, onder andere door het aanplanten van enkele bomen op het kasteeleiland. Toch bleven de laat-18de-eeuwse patronen bewaard.

Tussen de twee Wereldoorlogen was het kasteel eigendom van de familie Crützen de Velden. Deze eigenaar bezat het domein van 1930 tot 1941 (zie gedenksteen uit 1931 aan de binnenzijde van de tuinmuur – rechts naast de toegang). In 1941 werd het aangekocht door graaf François-Amedée Visart de Bocarmé (1898-1944). In 1952 wordt een eerste wijziging aan het kasteel geregistreerd op het kadaster, namelijk de nieuwe keuken die gebouwd werd tussen de hoofdvleugel en de oostelijke zijvleugel. In het park werd ten zuidoosten van het kasteel in het verlengde van een toegangsdreef in 1966 een schuur geregistreerd. Het goed bleef in handen van de erfgenamen van Visart de Bocarmé, tot de gemeente het kasteel met omringend park aankocht op 29 juni 1981. In 1994 startte de restauratie die opgedeeld werd in drie fases en recent afgerond werd. De restauratie bracht het exterieur van het kasteel terug in zijn oorspronkelijke toestand en in het interieur werd het gebouw aangepast aan zijn nieuwe functie als cultuurcentrum. In de hoek tussen het hoofdgebouw en de oostelijke vleugel werd een vroegere keuken afgebroken en vervangen door een nieuw zaaltje, in de westelijke hoek werd ook een nieuwe ruimte opgetrokken, beide van één bouwlaag.

https://inventaris.onroerenderfgoed.be/erfgoedobjecten/39060