Kasteel Ten Berghe, Medieval castle in Koolkerke, Belgium.
Kasteel Ten Berghe is a castle in Koolkerke, part of Bruges, built of orange brick with grey stone trim. Its front is reached by an arch bridge with wrought-iron parapets over the moat. The main building has a crenellated parapet and two narrow towers, with a small chapel on the right side of the front facade. The interior mixes neo-Gothic and neo-Renaissance elements.
A manor house on the site was first mentioned in a charter of 1267, held as a fief of the Count of Flanders. In 1490 troops of Engelbert II of Nassau burned the castle during the Flemish revolt against Maximilian; Jacques Despaers rebuilt it. The Caloen de Basseghem family, owners since the early nineteenth century, commissioned architect Joseph Schadde to enlarge and remodel it in 1877, giving it its neo-Gothic look.
Each November and December the estate becomes the Castle of Saint Nicholas and the Castle of Santa Claus, drawing several thousand visitors who can walk the grounds. The domain, laid out in English landscape style, also holds an ice house and a small gloriette, and is available for events.
The castle sits about 3 kilometers from central Bruges and operates as a private bed and breakfast with guest rooms available. Visiting works best through organized events or advance arrangement, since it remains a private property rather than a public museum.
The moat was partly filled in during the 1880s, when the stables and coach house were demolished and rebuilt and a pleasure garden was laid out on the grounds. The castle is reached by an arch bridge with wrought-iron parapets over the remaining water. Since 2009 it has stood on the Flemish Inventory of Immovable Heritage, and in 2013 it was designated a protected monument.
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