Kasteel Te Lake, Castle in Zulte, Belgium
Kasteel Te Lake is a classicist château of 1748 on the left bank of the Leie in Zulte. The light-painted stone and stucco facade has a slightly projecting central bay: a round-arched doorway with dark double doors, a carved cartouche and a fanlight of radiating panes, above it a tall arched window with an iron balcony railing, rectangular shuttered windows flanking, and a moulded cornice below the roofline. A low stair leads to the entrance portal.
The castle existed by the 13th century as seat of the lordship of Zulte, held by the Te Lake family, then by the Van Gavere from the late 15th century and by the Basta from 1592, when it was a fortified, moated castle. Jeroom Sebastiaan Limnander bought it in 1715; his son Jeroom Olivier Limnander had it demolished and replaced in 1748 by a more luxurious castle with stables, a gardener's house and gardens.
The château is reached by a bridge built in 1802 and sits close to the Leie canal, which has separated it from the center of Zulte since 1972. Walking or cycling along the riverbank is a good way to approach it.
During restoration works, traces of an older building were found beneath the current structure, including a stepped gable and sandstone corner blocks. This shows that the 1748 château was built on the remains of an even earlier one.
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