Leysselbeek Castle

En un regard

Le château en bref

Leysselbeek Castle, in Sint-Michiels (Bruges), takes its name from its position within a bend of the Leyselebeek. It is a white neoclassical mansion in the Palladian style, built around 1803 by Bruges native Charles Donny, probably using materials salvaged from the demolished Saint Donatian's Cathedral; the architect remains unknown (Jan-Robert Calloigne and Hubert Dumortier have been suggested). A monumental portico with Doric columns and a pediment marks the façade. Inside, a large hall with Ionic pilasters, a ceiling painted in trompe-l'œil to look like a tent, and a round salon entirely decorated with faux marble, grotesques and a sky full of birds. From 1845 to 1878, the castle was leased as a branch of the Sint-Dominicusgesticht under the name ‘Rustenburg’. Henri de la Kethulle de Ryhove later bought it. In 1936, the White Sisters of Our Lady of Africa turned it into a rest and convalescence centre, with the architect Firmin Koentges converting the hall into a chapel. The façades were restored in 1994-1995. The castle, now privately owned again, overlooks a 19th-century landscaped park with a pond and century-old trees.