Top 12 Castles around Incourt

The Abbey of La Ramée, located in Jauchelette (Geldenaken), was founded around 1215 by Héluide, abbess of Nijvel. The Cistercian nuns moved in 1216 to the banks of the Great Gete and came under the spiritual authority of the neighboring Abbey of Villers-la-Ville. In the 13th century, the community experienced a period of flourishing thanks to Cistercian mysticism and a highly regarded scriptorium. The abbey managed to acquire a large agricultural area and became very prosperous. However, during the 16th and 17th centuries, the monastery was repeatedly plundered due to wars, forcing the sisters to flee temporarily. In 1706, the English general Marlborough even set up a field hospital there during the Battle of Ramillies. After the French Revolution, the abbey was confiscated in 1796 and sold as national property. The monastic buildings were largely dismantled, but the farm and associated agricultural lands were spared. In 1722, the spectacular tithe barn was built, which is still considered the largest in Belgium today. In 1980, the complex was recognized as exceptional heritage of Wallonia. After a thorough restoration in the 90s, the domain serves as an exclusive venue for seminars and business events.

After the castle was no longer used as a castle, the Chaplains of Labour emerged, who founded the Sint-Janscollege. But the building had other functions during the war years. During the First and Second World Wars, German and American troops occupied the domain, as evidenced by the graffiti left in the tower. In the late 1940s, the buildings were repurposed as a boarding school for war orphans, an initiative of the noble foundation ‘Aide aux Enfants de la Patrie’. And from 1957 onwards, the Chaplains of Labour established a Catholic boys' boarding school and school there. Source: https://sintjanscollegemeldert.be/over-ons/geschiedenis

Both the old and current castle of Meldert underwent major changes after devastating fires. The current castle, although dating from the mid-1840s, underwent drastic changes after a severe fire in 1877. After a fire (1568) had destroyed the donjon or medieval residential tower in the village center, the family of Montenaken, heirs of the knights of Meldert, built a square farmstead, further south and higher up, the old castle. Due to a series of inheritances, the building eventually came into the ownership of Louise van der Noot at the beginning of the 19th century. The severe fire in 1877, which originated on the second floor, caused so much damage to the roof and floors that the land registry considered the castle a ruin. Only in 1882 was it registered again as taxable and thus habitable. Heir Adrien d’Oultremont took advantage of this opportunity to redecorate the building to his taste and that of his time. The harmonious neo-Gothic manor house of Vivroux evolves into a sturdy medieval fortress… More medieval than the Middle Ages. Source and more: https://sintjanscollegemeldert.be/over-ons/geschiedenis

On school days, the castle domain of Meldert is only accessible to students and staff of the Sint-Janscollege. Outside of school hours, the private domain is accessible during the day for those who wish to walk there. And during school holidays, it is certainly worth the effort. You will find some interesting buildings and beautiful natural areas with grasslands, ponds, woods, and boardwalks here and there. And I haven't even mentioned some impressive trees and the interesting history of the garden. The castle of Meldert as it looks now was only recently restored and has been back in use by the school since the beginning of 2026. The renovation began in the summer of 2024 and aimed, among other things, to make the castle more energy-efficient and modern inside. It was built in its current form in the 19th century (based on a design by architect Auguste Vivroux) and served as a residence for Count Adrien d'Oultremont de Duras and his family. The castle, with its older core, consists of a north-south oriented, rectangular volume entirely built of Gobertange stone. There was also a castle here before. The castle of Meldert was first mentioned in written sources from 1572, and there was likely one even before that. The predecessor of the current neo-Gothic castle was demolished in 1845 on the initiative of Countess Vander Noot. The domain was purchased in 1957 by the Aalmoezeniers van de Arbeid, who established the Sint-Janscollege there. The castle, the service wing, and the garden pavilion were protected as monuments in 1993. The park area, which grew into a natural forest, was protected as a village view and partly managed as a nature reserve. During the restoration of the large front salon, the original wall decoration was found hidden behind a monumental mirror. The entire room has been restored to its original state. Photos of the interior and a report about the restored castle can be found at https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2026/01/05/school-opnieuw-in-kasteel-meldert-hoegaarden/ The rest of the text and information about the details of the building can be found via: Inventory of Immovable Heritage: Kasteel Van Meldert, https://id.erfgoed.net/erfgoedobjecten/200190 Naturally, the municipality of Hoegaarden also pays attention to this special castle with its orangery, chapel, coach house, former stables, and 40-hectare domain. See https://www.lokaalbestuurhoegaarden.be/visit-hoegaarden/bezienswaardigheden/erfgoed/meldert/sint-janscollege-kasteel-van-meldert

A beautiful driveway - with a fairly recent iron wayside cross at the beginning - takes you to this 'castle' that has a beautiful domain behind it with quite a few special trees and a large pond. The castle, as a plaque at the entrance says, was inhabited by a certain baron Jean-Pierre de Beaulieu, actually Jean-Pierre baron de Beaulieu-Marconnay in full and Johann Peter von Beaulieu in German. Why in German? Well, Jean-Pierre, J-P to his friends, was born in Lathuy in 1725. And that was part of the Austrian Netherlands at the time. And J-P became a general in the Austrian army where he fought against the Prussians during the Seven Years' War and against the French during the First Coalition War. In the battle against the French, led by a young man named Napoleon, Beaulieu became an artillery general and commander of the Austrian army in Italy. In 1796, however, he was replaced because he had not succeeded in stopping Bonaparte's troops. He died in 1819 in Linz, Austria, on his estate at the ripe old age of 94. So he did not stay here very often. But the domain is still worth it. The castle you see here is not the first one. The first was built around 1777 by the lord general and a second one was built in 1803. Only a few elements of the first castles remain due to destruction during the war. At the end of the 19th century, the castle came into the hands of the Pastur family. That is the same family that bought the castle in Jodoigne that later became known as Pastur Castle - see https://www.komoot.com/nl-nl/highlight/5965104 Finally: in Lathuy you can follow a 'de Beaulieu walk', information board near the church.

'Vicomté' stands for viscounty and 'La Vicomté' is sometimes also used as a nickname for Jodoigne. Viscounts of Jodoigne were originally noble titles that were awarded to members of the family de Glymes de Hollebecque, especially in the 16th and 17th centuries. This title was often linked to the possession of the castle de la Vicomté. It is not so easy to see the structure and size of this castle by sight. When you come from the Gete you walk along a rising path with an old wall on the left and an old fence with an old gate and old stairs in the depths on the right. It seems as if all this merges seamlessly into the terrain behind the castle of Vicomté. The small tower in brick and Gobertange stone that Dominiek mentions is the first recognizable part of the domain when you walk to the main square. From the main square it is a lot easier: you recognize the house immediately. Photos of the various parts that make it up, with some history, can be found at https://www.destinationbw.be/nl/fiche/ontdekking-en-recreatie/het-kasteel-van-vicomte-jodoigne_TFOLOD-A0-007C-15NJ/ Also mention that on the Vicomté domain there are still remains of the ramparts that once stood around Jodoigne and that were first built in the thirteenth century. That rampart had several towers and gates. It enclosed the primitive castle that stood on the site of the current Château Pastur. Something more about the Counts of Glymes who stayed here in the 17th century: Jodoigne was then just going through a period of decline. The 17th century was called the century of adversity (and the 16th century was not much better). In the 17th century, the King of Spain transferred the Jodoigne estate to Philippe de Ligne, Duke of Aarschot and Arenberg. And a few years later, it was bought by Count Winant de Glymes. Winant de Glymes and his wife Michelle d'Yedeghem lived in this castle of Vicomté. A few dozen meters further on the market, in the chapelle Notre-Dame du Marché, is their tomb. The Glymes family had a strong bond with Jodoigne. Guillaume de Glymes, already lived in a country house in Jodoigne-Souveraine in the fourteenth century, the predecessor of the current castle there that was built by the half-brothers Antoine-Joseph de Glymes and Ernest-Joseph de Spangen.

The castle was owned by the Viscounts of Jodoigne and the Counts of Glymes in the 16th and 17th centuries. What remains of the old castle today is a beautiful and large building, recently renovated, whose facade in Gobertange stone gives an extra touch to the Grand’Place. The building continues along the rue de la Maladrerie and ends on a very beautiful turret or “gloriette” in brick and Gobertange stone. The castle is now private. (Experience Walloon Brabant)

Very beautiful castle