Top 20 Castles around Alken

The castle of the lords of Kozen is located on the spot where three municipalities meet: Kozen, Wijer and Stevoort. Strictly speaking, the castle is on the territory of Wijer, the farm is in Kozen and the barn in Stevoort. Previously, avenues connected the castle site with these three villages. The oldest known lords of Kozen belong to the van Wesemael family, who lived in the fourteenth century. Around 1400, the lordship and the castle belonged to the de Diest family, and in the seventeenth century, the de Kerckhem family ruled here. Above one of the gates, a stone can be seen, on which the family coat of arms is shown twice. It dates from the time when Arnold de Kerckhem and his wife Annemarie de Kerckhem, who was also his niece, lived here. Still in the seventeenth century, the castle belonged for a time to the land commander of Alden Biesen. From 1699, the van Afferden family acquired the domain. They are the last lords of Kozen. At the end of the nineteenth century, the castle was owned by a certain Jacquelart. He rebuilt the castle and gave it its current appearance.

The water castle of Schoonbeek is a Renaissance castle built in a U-shape with a large garden. Next to the castle is a pond that flows into a moat, over which a drawbridge leads to the entrance gate. The oldest core of the castle dates back to the Middle Ages: in 1333 the castle belonged to the County of Loon. Herman Typots, bailiff of the Land of Grevenbroek and castellan of the Prinsenhof in Kuringen, married Margriet van Chiney, daughter of Dirk van Chiney, lord of Schoonbeek and Anna Vandenbosch of Gors-op-Leeuw. In 1573 their grandson Hendrik Typots was still lord of the castle of Schoonbeek. The Preston family from Ireland bought it in 1780. The next owner was the de Renesse family. Count Theodore de Renesse was mayor of Beverst and governor of the province of Limburg. Another descendant, Frédéric Alexandre Jean Marie Ghislain, Count de Renesse, born in Brussels on January 3, 1904, died unmarried in the castle on November 18, 1990. In 1991 the castle became the property of Count Thierry de Hemricourt de Grunne.

On the site where a lordly manor stood in the Middle Ages, the castle of Hardelingen was built in the 19th century. The site had continuous habitation from an early date and was closely linked for centuries to agricultural exploitation in the fertile valley of the Werm. As a lordly manor, the domain functioned not only as a residence but also as an economic center that managed and structured the surrounding land within the traditional Haspengouw agricultural landscape. Today, the castle of Hardelingen, located in the quiet village of Werm, represents a valuable example of the transformation of a medieval lordly manor into a stately 19th-century country residence. The castle and its surrounding park landscape strikingly illustrate the neoclassical ideals of order, harmony, and scenic beauty, thus occupying a special place within the heritage of Haspengouw. Want to know more about the past? Click through to https://www.burchten-kastelen.be/provincies/limburg/042%20Kasteel%20van%20Hardelingen/Kasteel%20van%20Hardelingen.html

On the site where a manor house stood in the Middle Ages, the castle of Hardelingen was built in the 19th century. The site had continuous habitation from early on and was closely linked for centuries to agricultural exploitation in the fertile valley of the Werm. As a manor house, the domain served not only as a residence but also as an economic center that managed and structured the surrounding land within the traditional agricultural landscape of Haspengouw. Today, the castle of Hardelingen, located in the quiet village of Werm, is a valuable example of the transformation of a medieval manor house into a stately 19th-century country residence. The castle and the surrounding park landscape strikingly illustrate the neoclassical ideals of order, harmony, and scenic beauty, thus occupying a special place in the heritage of Haspengouw. Want to know more about the past? Click through to https://www.burchten-kastelen.be/provincies/limburg/042%20Kasteel%20van%20Hardelingen/Kasteel%20van%20Hardelingen.html

This small castle is actually a neoclassical manor house with accompanying service buildings and a farm complex from the 19th century, situated in a wooded park in a landscape style with remarkable old oaks and beeches.

Kiewit Castle (not to be confused with Kewith Castle) is a small castle in Kiewit, located in the Kiewit Nature Reserve. It is a neoclassical mansion, built in the second half of the 19th century. Originally, this was an estate with several small farms. In 1868, Hubert Dominique Vroonen bought this estate. His son Emile had the mansion built. A park in English landscape style was also constructed. In 1944, the castle was badly damaged. The domain with mansion was bought by the municipality of Hasselt in 1953, and it rented it to the diocese of Hasselt until 1970, which had a meditation center there. From 1970 to 1974, it was occupied by the Trappistine sisters. After this, it was transformed into a public park with, among other things, a petting zoo, and in 1976 it was opened to the public. The country house consists of three bays and has two floors and an attic floor under a mansard roof. The middle bay has an entrance and a balcony resting on pillars above the entrance doors. Behind the castle are service buildings and housing for the staff. Behind that is a semi-enclosed farm whose core dates from the 17th century and was originally built in half-timbered construction.

Since 1798, a 19th and 20th century country house has grown out of a farm and preserves an old core in an approximately 40 ha estate with a park in landscape style from the last quarter of the 19th century, a forest park characterized by the very uneven relief and an old tree population with some champion trees. More info: https://inventaris.onroerenderfgoed.be/erfgoedobjecten/855

Nice playground on sand. A nice rest for children during a walk. Parents can eat something on the terrace of tavern Koe-vert.