Hof van Kamerijk, Protected palace in Mechelen, Belgium.
Hof van Kamerijk is a palace at Keizerstraat 3, beside Sint-Pieters-en-Pauluskerk and opposite Hof van Savoye. Its light grey stone facade has three stepped gables with small windows, rows of rectangular windows with dark frames, and a round-arched doorway with a stone surround at the lower left. The right end is brick and rises higher, with a tall narrow window column. The current facade results from an 1893 restoration that largely restored the palace's appearance as drawn by Antonius Sanderus. Since 2016 the building has housed Mechelen's municipal theatre.
In 1477 Mechelen bought a patrician house on Keizerstraat from Jan van Bourgondië, bishop of Cambrai, and demolished eight neighbouring houses to enlarge it for Margaret of York, widow of Charles the Bold. Antoon I Keldermans supervised the works as city master mason. The palace later housed the future Charles V and was called Keizershof; it was protected as a monument in 1985.
The name Keizershof recalls the princes and princesses raised here, including the future Charles V, whose household grew to ninety people. Accounts record ABC books for the children, a clavichord for Charles and Eleanor, and a doll's bed for Isabella. Margaret of Austria took the children to fairs, processions and May tree plantings in Mechelen.
The palace now operates as a theater hosting performances and cultural events that visitors can attend. The restored exterior facade is visible from the street for those interested in seeing its architectural details without entering.
Margaret of York, an English princess who became a widow in 1477, chose this location as her residence and inadvertently created a hub where future European monarchs were raised. Her presence attracted other noble families and transformed the palace into a meeting point for dynastic interests.
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