Kasteel Ryckevelde

Damme, Belgium, Belgium

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Kasteel Ryckevelde near Damme and Sijsele in Belgium is a relatively young, neo‑Gothic castle built between 1913 and 1929 on a large wooded domain that originally included a fortified farm linked to the lordship of Male, first mentioned in 1487.

The castle was commissioned by Baron Raphaël Gillès de Pélichy as a summer residence and features a distinctive pointed tower, a chapel in the left wing, and spacious gardens with a large pond, while the older 17th‑century fortified farm still stands nearby in part distressed condition.

After the family left in 1946, the site became known in the 1950s for the European Training Centre founded by Father Karel Verleye, which educated thousands of young people—including future politicians such as Jean‑Luc Dehaene and Herman Van Rompuy—about European ideas and remained there until the mid‑2010s.

Today the neo‑Gothic castle hosts a restaurant and tea room, event and conference spaces, and holiday apartments, and its park and surrounding woods are open to the public as a quiet recreational area close to Bruges and the Flemish coast.