Rhoon Castle

Rhoon Castle, locally known as Kasteel van Rhoon, lies in the village with the same name, in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands.

Little is known about the history of Rhoon Castle. The present day castle mainly dates from the 16th century.

On the site of Rhoon Castle has stood a real castle, which was probably founded in the 13th century by a man called Biggo. This Biggo probably came from the province of Zeeland. He had bought the land in 1199 from Dirk VII, Count of Holland. Because Biggo had to get permission from the Count for building a castle, it is concluded that he wasn't a knight or a nobleman. What his exact status was, isn't known, only that he was wealthy. How his castle looked isn't known either.

Biggo's descendants owned Rhoon Castle and the surrounding lands until 1683 but had to cope with several floods during their lifetimes which drowned their lands. In 1489 the village and the castle were ransacked by the Cods. And again in 1572 the Sea Beggars set fire to the castle.

The old castle was repaired repeatedly but these repairs more and more turned into rebuilding the castle. The last and greatest rebuilding took place in 1598 and all its defensive features were replaced by a more friendly appearance.

In the following centuries Rhoon Castle had a lot of wealthy and less wealthy owners and it was used as a court. From 1683 on the castle housed no permanent residents. It's owners just used it for a few days each year. In 1913 it's last owner died and the castle became property of a trading-firm.

Since 1969 the castle is owned by the Rhoon Castle Foundation who restored the complete building. The castle and it's outbuildings now serve a variety of cultural functions such as a restaurant and as a center for exhibitions, music and poetry performances and weddings.

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