Kasteel Drie Koningen, Protected monument castle in Beernem, Belgium.
Kasteel Drie Koningen is a white castle in Beernem built in 1802 in Empire style, named after a 1565 inn at the crossroads. Its symmetrical facade has two rows of shuttered windows below the roofline, a central dome with small round windows and a spire, and a projecting entrance; a low white balustrade runs to the right above the pond. The salon looks out over the water.
Construction of the castle began in 1802 using materials from the demolished Saint Donatian Church in Bruges, commissioned by Baron de Serret van Outryve on the site of former Carmelite lands. The reuse of stones from this medieval church connected the new building to the region's heritage.
From the 1950s until 1982, Hélène du Sart de Bouland, widow of mayor Hubert van Outryve d'Ydewalle, hosted art weekends at the castle in his memory. Guests included writers Bertien Buyl and Paul Lebeau, painters Jack Godderis and Frans Minnaert, cartoonist Marc Sleen, and composer Herman Roelstraete.
The castle stands on the Drie Koningen road, next to the provincial domain Lippensgoed-Bulskampveld, whose paths connect with the estate. The 20-hectare park was laid out around 1815 by Baron François de Serret, himself a forestry specialist, and holds a giant sequoia that measured 25 m in 1990, a Spanish silver fir, a tulip tree and huge chestnuts. The castle itself is privately owned since 2007 by Harald Van Outryve d'Ydewalle and is not open to the public.
Hubert van Outryve d'Ydewalle, mayor of Beernem from 1940, was arrested at the castle by German occupation troops on 11 June 1944 and died in Straubing prison on 5 April 1945. His remains were brought back and buried a few dozen metres from the castle, where a chapel built in 1884 to a design by relative Jean-Baptiste de Béthune once stood; only its choir facade survives.
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