Aertrycke Castle, Gothic Revival castle in Torhout, Belgium

Aertrycke Castle is a Gothic Revival castle built of red brick with pale stone trim, with a round turret on the left, a tall square tower on the right and a central entrance reached by red-carpeted steps. It stands on a lawn beside a dark pond in a romantic garden with meadows and woods.

August de Maere, the driving force behind the port of Zeebrugge, bought 98 hectares of the Verloren Kost estate in 1865. The neo-Gothic castle was built between 1868 and 1871 to plans by Antwerp architect Joseph Schadde. In 1897 De Maere, by then ennobled, was allowed to add d'Aertrycke to his name. The family kept the estate except for a short period after the First World War; the province of West Flanders acquired it fully in 2012.

The landscape was shaped by garden architect Louis Fuchs, who created expansive meadows and water features that still define the character of the place today. Small structures along the waterside once served as boathouses and private retreats for the estate's occupants.

The castle now operates as a luxury hotel, restaurant and conference centre; the restaurant dates from 1990 and the hotel from 1996, built by the organisers of the Rock Torhout festival. The estate lies between Torhout centre, Wijnendale and Aartrijke, with the Wijnendale castle domain across the Torhout-Oostende road. The grounds are a provincial domain, partly opened to the public.

Xavier de Maere, the castle's last private owner, served as second-in-command of the Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1958–1959. The family kept the estate except for a short period after the First World War; the province of West Flanders bought it outright in 2012.