Beersel Castle

Beersel was built around 1300 and rebuilt after a siege in the fifteenth century, and it is one of the very few Belgian castles to have survived without being converted into a comfortable country house: it is a defensive building of brick with three round towers linked by curtain walls, standing in a full water-filled moat with a bridge, and the interior was never modernised, so what remains is arrow slits, machicolations, guard rooms, a torture chamber and bare brick. It was abandoned for a long period and restored from 1928. Its compactness and completeness make it the standard image of a Flemish water castle and a regular film location. The moat holds carp and the surrounding grounds are open.

What you actually see

• Three round brick towers - linked by curtain walls in a full moat.
• Machicolations and arrow slits - the defensive detail kept intact.
• Bare unmodernised interiors - guard rooms rather than furnished chambers.
• The water moat and bridge - the castle standing entirely in water.

When to go

April to October; opening is reduced in winter and it closes some months entirely. One to two hours. Weekday mornings are quiet. Medieval events run several times a year.

Honest expectations

The interior is empty and bare, which visitors expecting furnished rooms find thin. Opening is seasonal and hours are limited. Tower stairs are steep and narrow. Interpretation is largely in Dutch.

Nearby

Gaasbeek Castle is north-west; the Hallerbos is south.