Would you believe that there are approximately 3,000 castles, farm-castles, citadels, manors and palaces in Belgium? It's true! In fact, Belgium has one of the highest density of castles per square kilometer in the world! With over 400 castles that are open to the public, I couldn't let my mom and dad go home without checking out at least one...
So, off we went to Gaasbeek Castle, located not too far from Brussels. This was not my first visit here - I had taken DS to see this castle during our first few months here, but we happened to visit on a day that the castle was closed - Mondays. This time, I made sure it was open, before we departed...
The original castle was erected around 1240 to defend the Duchy of Brabant against the County of Flanders, but was later destroyed. The castle was re-built in brick during the 1500's. Its last inhabitants, the Marquess d'Arconati Visconti and his widow Marie Peyrat, made several renovations before it was donated to the Belgian State.
Today, Gaasbeek castle and the adjacent 124 acre park are open to the public. And, although the tour was in Flemish, we were able to buy an English souvenir book that helped us understand what we saw.
During our visit, various pieces of modern art were displayed throughout the castle, as part of an art exhibition. You can see some pictures of these pieces displayed in our slide show. You will find them quite interesting (and disturbing too!).
After our visit to Gaasbeek Castle, we made sure to stop at the Neuhaus Factory store located just 5 minutes away. After getting full from eating too many chocolate samples, we bought several boxes of chocolates and biscuits for mom and dad to take home.
Poor little DS was very disappointed when she found out we went there without her...
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