Top 20 Castles around Nieuwerkerken

The castle of the lords of Kozen is located on the spot where three municipalities meet: Kozen, Wijer and Stevoort. Strictly speaking, the castle is on the territory of Wijer, the farm is in Kozen and the barn in Stevoort. Previously, avenues connected the castle site with these three villages. The oldest known lords of Kozen belong to the van Wesemael family, who lived in the fourteenth century. Around 1400, the lordship and the castle belonged to the de Diest family, and in the seventeenth century, the de Kerckhem family ruled here. Above one of the gates, a stone can be seen, on which the family coat of arms is shown twice. It dates from the time when Arnold de Kerckhem and his wife Annemarie de Kerckhem, who was also his niece, lived here. Still in the seventeenth century, the castle belonged for a time to the land commander of Alden Biesen. From 1699, the van Afferden family acquired the domain. They are the last lords of Kozen. At the end of the nineteenth century, the castle was owned by a certain Jacquelart. He rebuilt the castle and gave it its current appearance.

I was overwhelmed by the beautiful blossoms, also how many plantations on this hike, recommended!

The castle is a U-shaped building with a northwest corner tower, which is the former keep. The side wings still have their 17th-century stepped gables. The appearance is strongly influenced by the renovation of 1763, and the interior is also from that period. Rococo stucco work, a plastered ceiling, and some fireplaces are found. Interesting is the cardinal's hall, dedicated to Jean Walther de Sluse, who was a cardinal and whose coat of arms is present. A stone flower vase on a pedestal is also depicted, attributed to the Liège native Cockler. Of the lower court, only the southern wing remains. There is also the gatehouse from around 1700, flanked by two square, brick towers. These are covered by bell-shaped roofs - covered with slate - crowned with a lantern. The castle – located near the church – is surrounded by a park. @https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kasteel_van_Hoepertingen

Rullingen Castle (also called Rolengen, Rolenghem, and Ruelingen) is located in the Herk valley in Rullingen, a hamlet of the Belgian town of Borgloon. The oldest known lord of Rullingen was Eggebertus van Rolengen, who witnessed the foundation of Averbode Abbey by his feudal lord, Arnold II van Loon. The medieval fortress was replaced, probably between 1623 and 1638, by a typical Maasland moated castle. It consisted of a U-shaped farmyard and an L-shaped manor house with a projecting square corner tower. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the castle was adapted to the then-current residential standards; a coach house was added. Between 1770 and 1850, an English garden was laid out to the south. In 1912, Knight Pangaert d'Opdorp purchased the castle. The farm behind the castle and a service wing were destroyed by fire in 1920. The building was then thoroughly renovated, a garden was created, and the moats were partially filled in. A new coach house was built using the demolition material. The Provincial Government of Limburg has owned the building since 1978. Until 2013, it was operated as a hotel and restaurant. In 2014, the Province of Limburg sold the castle to NV Livaco in Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe, one of the companies of the project developer Kolmont, owned by the Tans family in Hasselt. A real vineyard has been located on the Rullingen estate for several years now. In May 2005, one hectare of land was set aside for planting. The vineyard consists of 3,000 Pinot Gris vines, 2,000 Pinot Blanc, 600 Pinot Noir (Sankt Laurence), 200 Riesling, and 200 Kerner. The wine from Kasteel van Rullingen is organic. Unlike "regular" wine, which uses chemical agents, the grapes used in organic wine are grown without the use of any chemical products. Artificial fertilizers, highly toxic herbicides, and all chemical insecticides and fungicides are STRICTLY FORBIDDEN in this cultivation. Organic cultivation is therefore 100% environmentally friendly.

beautiful big castle in Rullingen

nice terrace at the back of the brasserie

beautifully maintained castle with adjacent B&B, nice cycling/hiking trails

Before Jan-Willem van Scharenberg became the first of the Scharenberg family to own the Hoepertingen estate, the castle he bought was owned by Ernest d'Arenbergh de La Marck. At that time it was still a moated house with a leasehold farm, a very small part of which still exists in the current Hoepertingen castle. I deliberately write Hoepertingen castle because the name Mariagaarde is more recent and is actually no longer correct because there are already new owners and they gave it a new name. The list of the various previous owners has already been mentioned and is available together with the full description of the current U-shaped moated castle with northwestern corner tower, the former keep at https://inventaris.onroerenderfgoed.be/erfgoedobjecten/31935 In 2022, the Annuntiaten sisters of Heverlee sold what was also called Mariagaarde for a while as described by Dirk V. It was bought by the Dutch family van Vloten who also owned Château de la Motte in Sint-Truiden. The castle in Hoepertingen was renamed Château de Looz (Looz is French for Wage). Since 2024 it has been a star hotel with a brasserie, party venues, lounge bar, beautiful terrace and so on. In the takeover it was agreed that people like you and me can still walk in the park and on the estate. You can see the result in the photos. I thought it was worth it. And Mary, she still watches in the form of a statue in the park.