Kasteel Van Voorde

Ninove, Belgium, Belgium

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Kasteel Van Voorde (Kasteel van Voorde) is a historic moated castle in the village of Voorde, a part of the municipality of Ninove in East Flanders, Belgium, situated at Sint‑Marcellusstraat 9A and dating originally from the late Middle Ages, with the first known lord of the castle mentioned in the 14th century and the current structure largely built in 1539 by Joos van der Meere (also spelled van der Meene).

The castle was a late‑medieval fortified water castle in traditional brick and sandstone, with four corner towers and a central gatehouse flanked by two smaller round towers, but in 1580, during the Calvinist Republic of Ghent, it was set on fire by Ghent rebels and afterwards restored; the family van der Meene continued to live there until 1736, and after that the buildings were used as a farm, then as a convent and school for the Vincentian Sisters of Buggenhout, while in 1827.

A neoclassical double house was built in the inner courtyard and in 1928 further alterations were made to the wings, so that today only certain parts of the original 16th‑century structure remain, notably the north wing with the entrance gate and its flanking turrets, two large corner towers, part of the rear wall of the east wing and the sandstone base of the south wing, while the ophaalbrug (drawbridge) that once gave access over the moat has been replaced by a fixed bridge.