Leeuwergem Castle ( nl, Kasteel van Leeuwergem) is a

stately home An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

in the village of Elene in the municipality of

Zottegem Zottegem (, Sotteghem and Sottegem in older English and French language sources) is a municipality located in Belgium and more particularly in Flanders, in the province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the town of Zottegem proper and ...

East Flanders , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Province of Belgium , image_flag = Flag of Oost-Vlaanderen.svg , flag_size = , image_shield = Wapen van O ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

History

The present building was constructed between 1762 and 1764, on the site of an earlier castle of the first half of the 15th century. It was built for the

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

nobleman Pieter Emmanuel d’Hane (1726-1786), probably by Jean Baptist Simoens of Ghent (1715-1779). The interior and exterior is in the French

château A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Nowaday ...

style, as the estate was built after examples in France. Today the castle is private property of the house of della Faille d'Huysse.

Gardens

The castle is known for its fine

baroque garden The Baroque garden was a style of garden based upon symmetry and the principle of imposing order on nature. The style originated in the late-16th century in Italy, in the gardens of the Vatican and the Villa Borghese gardens in Rome and in the ga ...

s and hunting forest estate. The gardens were designed between 1763 and 1775. The gardens can be visited on request. The 2016 film ''

The Exception ''The Exception'' is a 2016 romantic drama film, romantic war film directed by David Leveaux (in his directorial debut) and written by Simon Burke, based on Alan Judd's 2003 novel ''The Kaiser's Last Kiss''. The film stars Jai Courtney, Lily Jam ...

'' was filmed in the castle.

History

Gardens

See also