Ooidonk Castle

Ooidonk Castle, locally known as Kasteel Ooidonk, lies east of the village of Bachte-Maria-Leerne, in the province of East Flanders in the Flemish region in Belgium.

The castle's name is a derivation of the word 'hodonk' which means a higher piece of land in a swamp.

Ooidonk Castle was built as part of a line of defense around the city of Ghent and secured the river Leie. The first, medieval, castle was built somewhere in the 13th or 14th century and was owned by the Lords of Nevele. We don't know how this first castle looked like but the later castles at this site were build on its foundations.

In the 15th century the castle became property of the Van Montmorency family who kept it in their possession for 160 years. This period was the most turbulent period of the castle's history. In 1491 it was burned to the ground because its owners had chosen the side of Maximilian of Austria. The Van Montmorency family completed the rebuilding in 1501. However, in 1579 the castle was again burned to the ground during a siege. In 1595 it was sold by the devastated family.

The new owner was Maarten della Faille, an Antwerp banker, who rebuilt Ooidonk Castle in the Spanish-Flemish style with all the wealth of the Renaissance period. He gave the castle its current appearance. His descendants, the Barons of Nevele, owned the castle for two centuries.

In 1870 a large restoration started by the French architect Parent. He adapted the castle to the living standards of his period. The exterior was left mostly intact, apart from a couple of pseudo-renaissance style adaptions. The interior was completely remodeled so that nowadays we can see how a large, 19th century, mansion looked like.

At present the castle and its park can be visited for a fee. Its interior only on special days as it is still used as a residence. A nice castle to visit, even though it isn't a true medieval castle.

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