Egmontkasteel

Zottegem, Belgium, Belgium

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Egmontkasteel, also called the Castle of Egmont, is a historic castle and cultural monument in Zottegem, East Flanders, Belgium, set in the green Egmontpark along the Molenbeek stream.

Its history begins in the 11th century with a motte‑and‑bailey castle built by the lords of Zottegem, and around 1150 a stone donjon (tower) and a chapel were added, making it an important stronghold in a medieval defensive belt between the French crown and the German Empire. The castle passed through several noble families (Enghien, Antoing, Melun, Luxemburg‑Fiennes) and was partly destroyed in 1452 during the revolt of Ghent against the Duke of Burgundy, after which it was rebuilt and gradually transformed from a fortress into a more luxurious residence.

In 1530 the estate came to the House of Egmond, and its most famous resident was Lamoral, Count of Egmont, a Flemish noble who opposed Spanish rule and was executed in 1568; under his ownership the castle gained a magnificent Renaissance‑style Knights’ Hall with a richly decorated bay window and other elegant interiors. After Lamoral’s death the castle was seized by the Spaniards, damaged during the Eighty Years’ War, and later owned by the Egmont‑Pignatelli family; in the 19th century new parts were built in a neorenaissance style, including a façade added in 1867 by architect Émile Van Hoecke‑Peeters, while the older medieval core was preserved and integrated.

The city of Zottegem bought the northern and southern parts of the castle in 1957 and 1964, used it as a hospital, school and art school, and from 1982 converted it into the town’s public library, which remains its main function today. The Egmontpark surrounding the castle preserves archaeological remains of the old castle chapel, the defensive moat and an ancient drawbridge, and also holds a statue of Lamoral of Egmont erected in 1872, while further relics from the castle are displayed in the Egmont Chamber in Zottegem’s old town hall.