Gaasbeek Castle sits enthroned amidst the rolling hills of Pajottenland just outside Brussels. The medieval castle has had an eventful history, evolving from a strategic stronghold to a spacious country house. The Count of Egmond, was one of its best-known owners. The present building was given its romantic restyling at the end of the nineteenth century by the enigmatic French Marchioness Arconati Visconti. She was the daughter-in-law of aristocrats Giuseppe and Costanza Arconati Visconti, who, between 1821 and 1839, turned the castle into a unique meeting place for intellectual exchanges between exiled Italian politicians, European writers and scientists. Marie Arconati Visconti was also interested in the great intellectual debates of her time, as her correspondence with and support for Alfred Dreyfus testify. She set up the castle as a museum for her considerable art collection and treated it like a historical theatre set. The dream castle created then is still something of a time machine with its historic interiors, tapestries, paintings, furniture, sculptures and other valuable objects.
The castle park, with its centuries-old trees, ponds, lanes, winding paths and occasional historic buildings, is the ideal place for winding down. The estate also includes a unique museum garden where old varieties of fruit and vegetables are cultivated.
Site rond Gloriëtte, na restauratie, Kasteel van Gaasbeek, foto: Tess Thibaut
Carlo Bossoli, Het Kasteel van Gaasbeek vanuit het Oosten, ca. 1830, collectie Kasteel van Gaasbeek
Stucplafond Gloriëtte, tijdens restauratie door Altri Tempi, foto Tess Thibaut
Fragment uit het stucplafond van de Gloriëtte, na restauratie, foto Tess Thibaut.JPG "Fragment uit het stucplafond van de Gloriëtte, na restauratie, foto Tess Thibaut")
Fragment uit het stucplafond van de Gloriëtte, na restauratie, foto Tess Thibaut.JPG "Fragment uit het stucplafond van een knielende Phaëton, na restauratie, foto Tess Thibaut")
Fragment uit het stucplafond van een knielende Phaëton, na restauratie, foto Tess Thibaut
.JPG "Fragment uit het stucplafond van het Barokpaviljoen, na restauratie, foto Tess Thibaut")
Stucplafond Gloriëtte, na restauratie, foto Tess Thibaut
Triomfboog in het kasteelpark van Gaasbeek, © Tess Thibaut
Triomfboog in het kasteelpark van Gaasbeek, © Tess Thibaut
Triomfboog in het kasteelpark van Gaasbeek, © Tess Thibaut
Sint-Gertrudiskapel, Kasteel van Gaasbeek, voor restauratie, foto Tess Thibaut
Sint-Gertrudiskapel in het kasteelpark van Gaasbeek, © Tess Thibaut
.JPG "Plaatsing glasraam, foto Tess Thibaut")
.JPG "Glasraam in de Sint-Gertrudiskapel, ontwerp Ben Sledsens, foto Tess Thibaut, collectie Kasteel van Gaasbeek")
