Wissekerke Castle

Wissekerke Castle, locally known as Kasteel Wissekerke, lies in the village of Bazel, in the province of East Flanders in the Flemish region in Belgium.

Already in the 10th century a fortification stood at this site, although that might have been an earthen fort to defend the area against Viking raids.

The building of Wissekerke Castle was started in the 13th century. In 1510 that castle was bought by Lieven van Pottelsberghe, lord of Vinderhoute and councilor to the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. After his death in 1531 the castle passed to Servaas van Steelant through inheritance.

During the remainder of the 16th century Servaas considerably rebuilt the castle. Especially after it was partially burnt down by Marnix de Sainte Aldegonde in 1583. It was then rebuilt mostly with the focus on comfort and lost most of its defensible features.

During the entire 19th century Wissekerke Castle was the seat of influential nobles; the Vilain XIIII family. They served as mayors of the village for 139 years. The most notable members of this family were Philipe Vilain XIIII and his wife Sophie-Louise-Zoé de Feltz who also considerably rebuilt the castle and also built the gate building. In the mid-20th century the Vilain XIIII's left the castle,  afterwards it was bought by the local council.

At present Wissekerke Castle is owned by the local council and is used as a museum and for other cultural activities. It can be visited for a small fee after which you can roam through all the castle, even up until the tower. A very nice castle.

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