De Blauwe Toren

Jabbeke, Belgium, Belgium

---

De Blauwe Toren (“the Blue Tower”) is a historic castle and park estate in the village of Varsenare, part of the municipality of Jabbeke in West Flanders, Belgium, first mentioned in 1531 as ’t Goet ten Blaeuwen Torren and named for its roof covered with blue slate tiles.

The original medieval property consisted of an upper and lower courtyard surrounded by a circular moat, and over the centuries it was owned by notable figures such as Adolf van Meetkerke, a diplomat and jurist who served under William of Orange and was later buried in St Paul’s Cathedral in London, as well as by several noble families including Bertholf, Blomme and van Caloen before passing to the de Man family.

In 1878 Alfred de Man commissioned the present building, an eclectic‑style castle with a neo‑Gothic chapel, and in 1885 he added a small Lourdes grotto called De Mans Rots above an old ice house, built with stones from an old mill after his wife’s miraculous recovery. The castle and its extensive grounds were taken over in 1936–1937 by the Missionaries of Africa (Witte Paters), who converted part of the domain into a modernist novitiate and used the estate as a retirement home; the park, about 14 hectares in size.

Contains woods, meadows, ponds and walking paths, and in 2025 the municipality of Jabbeke purchased the domain for around €850,000, with the intention of gradually opening it to the public as a green leisure and history area while the Witte Paters retain residence in the castle for the next 15 years. Today De Blauwe Toren is a protected monument and cultural landscape that can be explored from outside the castle, with new walking routes, seating, picnic spots and interpretive elements already installed in the park, offering visitors a combination of natural beauty, historic architecture and local heritage in quiet countryside near the coast.