Groot-Bijgaarden Castle

Groot-Bijgaarden Castle, locally known as Kasteel van Groot-Bijgaarden or Château de Grand-Bigard, lies in the village of the same name, in the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish region in Belgium.

The castle of Groot-Bijgaarden was founded in the 2nd part of the 12th century by Arnulfus de Bigardis, probably as a simple wooden motte-and-bailey castle. Through marriage, it passed to the Veels/van Vele family in the 14th century. A member of that family likely built the oldest part of the castle today: the square keep, on the site of the old motte, around 1347.

William Estor, an alderman of Brussels, acquired the castle in 1486. In 1547, his daughter and her son, John Estor, made the mistake of declaring themselves Protestants while Emperor Charles V had outlawed Protestantism as a heresy. The local bailiff then showed up with soldiers to arrest them. Mother and son entrenched themselves in the keep but were arrested after being smoked out, 36 hours later. In January 1548, they were beheaded in Vilvoorde Castle.

In 1634, Groot-Bijgaarden Castle was bought by the Boisschot/Booischot family. They rebuilt the castle over the course of 15 years and gave it its present appearance in the style of the Flemish Renaissance.

During the following centuries, several other owners followed, until 1903 when the castle was purchased by Raymond Pelgrims, a Belgian industrialist. By then, the castle was in a very dilapidated state. Pelgrims then spent the next 30 years restoring the castle to its current condition.

Groot-Bijgaarden Castle is now a private property. It can only be visited as a guest of events held there, such as the annual spring flower exhibition, Floralia Brussels. I hope to visit it in the future.

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