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.
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.
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.