Cortewalle Castle

Cortewalle Castle

Location: Cortewalle Castle

Zwarte dreef 1

9129 Beveren, East Flanders  Map

Constructed: 15th century

Open: Jan 1- Dec 31 by appointment only

Tel. +32 3 750 15 80

Email: toerisme@beveren.be

 

Cortewalle Castle (Dutch Kasteel Cortewalle) is a palace complex in the center of the Flemish municipality of Beveren in Belgium. Built in the 15th century by the Trieste family, ownership passed to the Counts of Brouchoven de Bergeyck in the 18th century via the Goubau family, who lived in the moated castle until 1960. In 1966 they sold it to the municipality of Beveren, which now uses the main building as a venue. The castle also houses a local history museum and the archives of the Brouchoven de Bergeyck family. The former depot building including the orangery now serves as a restaurant.

The mansion of the complex has been a listed building since September 8, 1971.

 

History

The castle was built by the Trieste family in the early 15th century in Flemish Renaissance style and is believed to be the birthplace of Ghent bishop Antonius Trieste. Initially it was called Hof ter Walle, which gradually changed to Cortewalle. In the 17th century the castle came into the hands of the Goubau family and from them in 1787 by marriage to the Counts of Brouchhoven de Bergeyck. Charles de Brouchoven de Bergeyck began in 1856 with a radical change and expansion of the system. Among other things, the cross-frame windows from the Renaissance period were removed and the castle portal renewed in the neo-Gothic style. The interior also underwent a comprehensive change. The 18th-century coach house was also altered, with a neoclassical addition in the form of an orangery. At the same time, an ice cellar and accommodation for the gardener and stable boy were built in the castle park. Charles' only daughter Alix from his marriage to Emilie Moretus married her cousin Florimond de Brouchoven de Bergeyck in 1869 and brought the property to him. Between 1908 and 1910, their son Charles carried out further modifications to the buildings, giving them their current appearance. He had three wings of the main building on the ground floor enlarged on the courtyard side, so that the inner courtyard of the castle was massively reduced. The interiors have also been extensively renovated and modernized.

After the death of Charles widow Josephine Cornet d'Elzius de Peissant in 1960, the castle fell into disuse. In 1961, the heirs had all the furniture in the house publicly auctioned off. In 1966 they sold the complex, including the castle park and outbuildings, to the municipality of Beveren. She had the palace restored in the late 1980s and in 2007-2008 and has since used it for exhibitions, concerts and other cultural events. Some of the restored rooms and the palace chapel can be visited on Sundays from May to September as part of free guided tours. The attic houses a local history museum run by the Hertogelijke Heemständige Kring Het Land van Beveren association, whose most valuable exhibit is a 9.5 × 6 meter tapestry from Aubusson. However, the small museum is only open on Sundays in September. Since 2000, the castle has also housed the Brouchoven de Bergeyck family archives, which were previously widely scattered. Today it is looked after and inventoried by municipal employees.

 

Description

The small palace complex consists of a four-wing, water-fenced manor house and a former coach house and orangery to the north-east of it. The buildings are located in the middle of a 10-hectare palace park that is open to the public. This can be reached via a cast-iron suspension bridge from around 1905 from Remisen Island. The park is designed as a landscape garden and is mostly planted with lime trees, summer oaks and beeches. There are also some exotic solitary trees there, such as a Japanese cake tree, a common Judas tree and an American sweetgum. Access to the park is via a 350 meter long avenue of beech trees, which runs towards the palace grounds from the south-west. It ends at a wrought-iron gate with bluestone pillars decorated with lions' heads and crowned with vases.

Northeast of the manor house is an island, on which not only the former coach house with adjoining orangery is located, but also a large round bed. The one-storey coach house was built of brick on a bluestone base. It has a slated hipped roof and bluestone corner pilaster strips. The arched gates of the past have now been converted into windows, but still clearly illustrate the building's original purpose. The three-axis central avant-corps is completed by a triangular gable with a round skylight.

The walls of the manor house, made of light sandstone, rise directly from the house pond. This, together with the closed square shape of the building, clearly illustrates its former defensive function. The manor house consists of two parallel, two-storey wings with stepped gables, which form the south-east and north-west wings. They are connected by two lower connecting wings on the south-west and north-east sides. All wings together thus surround a small, rectangular inner courtyard. The south wing is one of the oldest buildings in the complex and probably dates back to 1416. An octagonal stair tower is placed in the middle of its outside. At the corners of this page on the upper floor there are the beginnings of two turrets. The main entrance is in the northeast wing. The ogival portal is flanked on both sides by narrow, octagonal turrets with pointed spires. These are - like all other roofs of the manor house - covered with slate shingles. Neo-Gothic pointed arch windows indicate the location of the palace chapel in the north-western wing of the palace.

The mansion's interiors date from the 19th and early 20th centuries, including panelling, ornate carpentry and stucco molding. In the vestibule there is a marble floor covering, the black and white slabs of which have been laid in a checkered pattern. Next to the windows, a stained glass dome illuminates the entrance hall. The Verlat Hall (Dutch Verlatzaal) is named after Charles Verlat, whose paintings depicting hunting scenes hang on the walls of this hall. This room also features a white marble fireplace. The Blue Room (Dutch Blauwe Kamer) also owes its name to a feature: its blue damask wall covering. The most striking piece of furniture in the Flemish Room (Dutch: Vlaamse Kamer) are the stained glass windows with depictions of coats of arms.