Wemmel Castle (; ) is a former aristocratic estate in the centre of

Wemmel Wemmel (; ) is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in the Flemish region of Belgium. The municipality only comprises the town of Wemmel proper. On January 1, 2018, Wemmel had a total population of 16,347. The total area is , which g ...

Flemish Brabant Flemish Brabant ( ; ) is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on (clockwise from the North) the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Hainaut and East Flanders. Flemish Brabant also ...

, Belgium. It was formerly the property of the noble House of Taye.

History

The castle was originally built as a fortification. In 1649, Philip-Albert Taye, 1st Marquess of Wemmel had his property redesigned in

Baroque style The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from the early 17th century until the 1750s. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo (i ...

. Inside, he decorated the rooms with his

heraldic crest A crest is a component of a heraldic display, consisting of the device borne on top of the helm. Originating in the decorative sculptures worn by knights in tournaments and, to a lesser extent, battles, crests became solely pictorial after t ...

. In the 17th and 18th centuries, it was the main residence of the Marquess of Wemmel until Marie Josepha Taye, 6th Marquess of Assche and 3rd Marquess of Wemmel, married Jean-Antoine van der Noot. In 1838, the castle was sold to the mayor, Willem-Bernard Count of Limburg-Stirum. The House of Limburg-Stirum gave the estate to the local community.

Today

Today the estate is still the property of the municipality of Wemmel, and functions as

town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

. The park is open to the public.

References

Bibliography

* Delmelle J., Wemmel et son Chateau in Brabant, n.p., 1962, p. 11-13. * Dessaer R., Geschiedenis van Wemmel, Anderlecht-Brussel, 1945, p. 71-78. {{coord, 50.90727, 4.30347, format=dms, type:landmark_region:BE, display=title Castles in Flemish Brabant