En un regard
Le château en bref
In Bekkerzeel, a section of Asse, the Hof ter Zittert is a small moated château. It occupies the centre of an estate of around six hectares, at number 6 Schutstraat. The site originates in the former manorial court of Bekkerzeel, held in the Middle Ages by the family of Beckensele, who gave the village its name. After this court was divided, the part known as Ter Zittert took the name of the family that succeeded the Beckensele. Archival sources describe it as a fief in 1470, as a court in ruins in 1599, and then in 1641 as a complex comprising a house, barns and cattle sheds. The present château was built around the middle of the eighteenth century, probably on older foundations, for the Beydaels family. In 1832, a restoration raised it and gave it its neoclassical appearance. Another campaign followed in 1958, and commemorative stones placed on the façade recall these two building projects. The main house, sober and symmetrical, rises on an island. It is reached by an arched brick bridge, aligned with a gate flanked by piers topped with urns. The island garden retains traces of a formal French layout. The park, an orchard and a wood complete the estate. On the gatehouse side, a porter's lodge with stables and a bakehouse complete the ensemble. The château, its outbuildings and its moat have been protected as a monument since 2002.
