En un regard
Le château en bref
De Helle Castle, in Ruisbroek (Leeuw-Saint-Pierre, Flemish Brabant), was the seat of the lordship of Ruisbroek, which is attested from 1309 in the form of a castrum with a farmyard. The lordship passed to the d'Aa family (1373), then to the Witthem family, lords of Beersel (1509), the Lalaing family (1614), and finally the Mérode family (1657). The present castle, built around 1730, most probably by the d'Yve d'Ostiche family, replaced an earlier moated castle. Built of brick and sandstone on a U-shaped plan, it combines a main block with corner pavilions, an entrance bay set forward, and slightly arched windows, all characteristic of the Régence style. Inside, a historicist decor from around 1900 and eighteenth-century stucco ceilings survive. The dovecote, a square three-storey tower under a pavilion roof, is said to be the only example of this type in Brabant around 1730. The castle, its enclosing wall, its moat with bridge, its forecourt with gateways and its balustraded terrace are protected as a monument, while the park is protected as a site (dorpsgezicht).
