Page 143 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Belgium & Luxembourg

WEST AND EAST FLANDERS  141

was remodelled and enlarged
in the 17th century to make it
a more habitable château. Since
1953, it has been in the hands of
the Royal Association of Historic
Residences and Gardens. The
interior, which can be visited
only by a guided tour, holds
17th-century furniture, an
exceptional collection of 15th-
to 18th-century silver and
16th-century Brussels tapestries
depicting domestic and hunting
scenes. There is also a well-
respected restaurant that
occupies the outbuildings.
p Stoomcentrum
Maldegem
Stationsplein 8, Maldegem; 32 km
(20 miles) from Ghent. Road Map B1.
Corner tower with bulbous spire overlooking the moat at Kasteel Ooidonk Tel (050) 716852. @ Open early
i Kasteel Ooidonk o Kasteel van May–Sep: 10am–5:30pm Sun; Jul–
Aug: noon–5pm Wed & Fri,
Ooidonkdreef 9, Deinze; 24 km Laarne 10am–5:30pm Sun. - _ Steam
(15 miles) SW of Ghent. Road Map B2. Eethoekstraat 5, Laarne; 19 km Festival (1st weekend of May).
Tel (09) 2822638. Open Apr–mid-Sep: (12 miles) SE of Ghent. Road Map B2. ∑ stoomcentrum.be
2–5:30pm Sun & public holidays; Tel (09) 2309155. & 8 mandatory;
Jul–Aug: 2–5pm Sat, Sun & public Easter–Sep: 3pm Sun; Jul–Aug: The Stoomcentrum (Steam
holidays. & 0 ∑ ooidonk.be. 3pm Thu & Sun. 0 Centre) in Maldegem is the
Gardens: Open 9am–4pm Tue–Sun. ∑ slotvanlaarne.be largest collection of steam
engines in Flanders. It has
The impressive castle of Ooidonk A remarkable castle, Laarne is agricultural and industrial
sits on a meandering loop of surrounded by a broad moat machines, fire-engines,
the River Leie, sur round ed by and accessed by a long bridge. steamrollers and steam
Gardens, wood land and a moat. The castle is artistically set at an locomotives. The museum is
It occupies the site of a 13th- angle both to the moat and to operated by enthusiasts, and
century fortress that was wrecked the large square forecourt, with visitors can see them working
in 1491 by the citizens of Ghent corner buildings, that leads up to on machines currently under
in a revolt against Habsburg it. Originally a pentagonal fortress restoration. Steam and diesel
ruler Maximilian I. It was then the dating from the 12th to 14th trains take visitors for rides on
home of Philip de Montmorency, centuries, with unusual spires a track to Eeklo 10 km (6 miles)
Count of Hornes, until 1568, on the towers, it was used by the away, and a diesel train runs on
when he was exe cuted for counts of Flanders, and was the a narrow-gauge line to Donk,
oppos ing the introduction of target of repeated sieges. Laarne about 1.5 km (1 mile) away.
the Spanish Inquisition. His castle
was des troyed by Protestants in
1579. The corner towers are all
that remain of this earlier fortress.
The rest was rebuilt after 1595 in
a mixture of Renaissance and
Hispano-Flemish styles, with
step-gabled façades and bulb-
shaped crests on the towers.
The interior was refur bished
sensitively in the 19th century
to sumptuous standards and
has a fitting collection of
antique furniture, tapestries,
paintings, objets d’art and the
kind of detail which is seen in
a castle that is still lived in by
its owners. Old-fashioned diesel train at Stoomcentrum Maldegem
For hotels and restaurants see pp266–7 and pp283–6

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