Tuesday, April 13, 2010

THE GAASBEEK CASTLE

On the first warm spring day I visited the Gaasbeek castle which is located near Brussels. It is quiet impressive and surrounded by a very beautiful parc.

The fortified castle was built around 1240 to defend the Duchy of Brabant against the County of Flanders. The castle was later destroyed by Brussels city troops.

At the beginning of the 16th century a brick castle was constructed on the ruins of the medieval fortress.

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.

Since 1980 the castle has been owned by the Flemish Community and became a museum. The authentic testament of the famous painter Peter Paul Rubens is exposed in there.

The castle and its park are of 50 hectares or 124 acres. (you can read more about it here)

The castle

and the crest above the entrance

one of the towers

inside, the entrance to the museum

a beautiful iron door

The inner court

Gardeners discussing

all around the castle is a moat, now without water

Pleasure Pavillon

The entrance doesn't seem to be used very often !

everywhere were mirrors as signs in form of a lady rider which explained the way to go and the explanations of the places.

and the huge wonderful parc.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Now that's a castle fit for a king. I wouldn't mind having that :)beautiful shots.

Jim said...

Whata marvellous castle. Great shots. Thanks for showing us around.
Sydney - City and Suburbs

Misfit in Paradise said...

It looks like a wonderful place to visit.

Loree said...

What a beautiful place. I love castles and old buildings, they always have such an atmosphere about them that you don't find in modern buildings.

LadyFi said...

Magnificent! I love that photo of the crest - those bricks look like mosaic!

diane b said...

Wow what a beautiful castle and grounds. It is just like out of a fairy tale book. Great shots.

Maribeth said...

I like to sit and imagine what it was like there when the place was full of workers, the kings and Gentry, and the ladies in their fancy dresses. Imagine great dinners in the halls and balls too! Ah I have read too many romance novels, I think!

Verna Luga said...

aw... this is so grand ... thanks for sharing!

Sylvia K said...

What a fantastic castle! I love your photos, they're terrific! So much history! That's one of the things I found so fascinating when I lived in Europe, our country is so young you just don't find places like this. Hope your week is off to a great start, Gattina!

Sylvia

Shey said...

Very fascinating castle. Love the scenery.

Carolyn Ford said...

I love the shot of the castle with the sun flare! That is so cool!

Bill said...

Wow, what a great castle. Nice shots, thanks for posting them.

Melli said...

What a place! I think Thom SHOULD have it! KING Thom! Yes indeed! It's gorgeous! I'm surprised they haven't turned that park into a golf course!

Faye said...

Such wonderful photography Gattina--all of your shots of the castle and grounds. But my two favorities are the closeup of the castle--love the variety in the stone/brick work--and the inner court.

Gracie said...

How could I missed that????

A Lady's Life said...

hmm It feels like home lol
I must have lived there in my past life. lol

Beautiful spot and has everything you'd want. Nice.:)

Trotter said...

Hi Gattina! Have never been there, but it looks wonderful... And the weather was helping you a lot...

Blogtrotter Two has a French party for you in Turkey... ;) Enjoy and have a great week!!

Jientje said...

The weather was much nicer than when we were there last week, and you took a lot of beautiful pictures Gattina! I was very pissed off that I was not allowed to take pictures inside, and it was raining outside, so I really don't have all that many!

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I love writing, traveling and photography. . I am German, married to an Italian and we live in Waterloo (15 km from Brussels) / Belgium since many years. Waterloo is a famous place to many tourists, because Napoleon lost his battle here against Wellington and other European countries.

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