Kasteel Hulsberg

Belgium, Belgium

---

Kasteel Hulsberg is a historic castle located on the Hulsberg hill in the municipality of Borgloon, Belgian Limburg, on one of the highest points of the area and long known as an important landmark in the landscape.

The site originally hosted a religious “kluis” (hermitage) and chapel built in 1689 by Nicolaas Poislevache, a deacon of Borgloon, who had made a pilgrimage to Loreto in Italy and wanted to recreate that sacred setting locally. This hermitage and its chapel stood on the summit of the Hulsberg until the late 19th century, when they were demolished in 1882 to allow construction of a new building on the same elevated spot.

The present Kasteel Hulsberg was built in 1882 in an eclectic style, combining brickwork with decorative bands of black sintered bricks, and set on a stone plinth with slate roofing, creating a spacious and visually striking residence that dominates its surroundings and is visible from afar. 

The castle is integrated into a landscape-style park that still contains some of the original trees, reinforcing its character as a landscaped estate rather than a fortified medieval stronghold, and reflecting the 19th‑century trend of turning historic religious sites into aristocratic or wealthy country houses.