Mesen Castle, Noble castle ruins in Lede, Belgium

Mesen Castle is a château ruin in Lede displaying classical architecture with Dorian columns, a balustrade, and a large pediment bearing the heraldic crest of House Bette. Stabilized sections of the main facade and foundation stones remain visible within the public park grounds.

Mesen Castle was a noble residence in Lede, held by the Bette family, who became Marquesses of Lede. Its 18th-century facade was designed by the Italian architect Giovanni Niccolò Servandoni for the 4th Marquess, Emmanuel de Bette. After the noble line died out, a Catholic institution bought the property in 1897 and added Neogothic buildings. From 1914 to 1970 it served as a girls' boarding school, then stood abandoned until demolition in 2010–2015.

From 1914 to 1970 the castle housed the Pensionnat de Lede, a boarding school run by the Institution Royale de Messines for about 150 girls aged 5 to 18, daughters of military men after the First World War. Pupils learned French, Dutch, arithmetic, gymnastics, theatre, cooking, manners, painting and sewing, living together and going home only at Christmas, Easter and summer.

Only a cleaned and stabilized section of the main facade and the foundations of another wing are displayed in the park; the rest of the castle was demolished in 2010-2011 and by 2015. Look for these fragments rather than standing buildings, and note that the surviving marquessate wing and farm remain in uncertain condition.

The 18th-century facade was designed by the Italian architect Giovanni Niccolò Servandoni for the 4th Marquess, Emmanuel de Bette, and is counted among his major works. It carried a Dorian colonnade with balustrade and a large pediment bearing the heraldic crest of the House of Bette with lions. Before the final demolition, the ruins drew urban explorers.