Castle Map

Castle

Castle of Westerlo

Belgium · 15th century

Founded
c. 1450
Coordinates
51.08394°, 4.91722°
Links
OpenStreetMap · Wikimedia Commons
Open on the map →Wikipedia ↗
Castle of Westerlo in Belgium
Photo: Gelenaar · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Description

On the territory of the municipality of Westerlo (Westerloo, using the old spelling) there are several castles.

Locals call it "Oud Kasteel" (Old Castle) (51°05′02″N 4°55′02″E) to discern it from the new castle built for Jeanne de Merode in 1910-12 (see below). The castle has been the home of the House of Merode for more than five centuries. The central keep or Donjon has walls of more than 2 m thick. I was built by the lords of Wesemael in local brown stone in the late 14th century. It probably replaced an older fortress on the same spot. Other parts of the building are believed to date from the 15th and 16th century. The castle was adapted, extended and renovated several times. From the 16th century onwards it was transformed into a more luxurious noble dwelling and gradually lost its fortified character.

Several restorations in the 19th century gave it back a more 'romantic' medieval appearance.

The sumptuous interiors contain fine furniture, paintings, tapestries, Córdoba leather wall hangings and objects collected by the Merode family throughout the centuries. The most important rooms like the entrance hall, the "ridderzaal" (knight's hall), the large drawing room, the dining room and the chapel can be visited during the 'Kasteelfeesten' in the first weekend of July.

An English landscape park of 12 hectares surrounds the castle. The ponds in the park are connected with the moat of the castle. Across the Nete river there is a larger formal park (60 hectares) in the French tradition with a rectangular pond forming a large perspective. It was commissioned by Fieldmarshall Jean-Philippe-Eugène de Mérode-Westerloo at the beginning of the 18th century and was inspired by Versailles.

Locals call it "Nieuw Kasteel" (New Castle) (51°05′25″N 4°54′44″E). It was built between 1909 and 1912 in a neogothic style by architect Pierre Langerock as the residence of one person, Countess Jeanne de Mérode. Jeanne de Mérode was born in Paris in 1853 as a daughter of Charles-Antoine Ghislain de Mérode-Westerloo, Marquess of Westerlo and Princess Marie-Nicolette d'Arenberg. She remained unmarried and devoted her life to religion and charitable works. To provide employment for the population of Westerlo (especially for young girls and women), she founded a carpet factory in Westerlo.

Text adapted from “Castle of Westerlo” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

In the rankings

Castle of Westerlo ranks #7,207 of 9,902 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #117 of the 140 mapped in Belgium. Founded c. 1450, it is older than 47% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 596 atlas entries founded in the 15th century. 4 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Geel, 10 km away. See how Belgium compares in the castle statistics.

Castles nearby

More castles in Belgium