Kasteel Rosendael

Rosendael is a medieval castle rebuilt repeatedly, of which the round thirteenth-century keep survives, and its interest is mostly outdoors. The park was laid out from about 1720 by Jan van Arnhem and Daniel Marot with a set of water features fed by springs on the Veluwe scarp behind: a shell gallery lined with shells and minerals, a cascade, and above all the bedriegertjes - the deceivers - hidden jets set into the paving of a walk which the gardener turns on without warning, soaking whoever is standing there. They are a standard element of baroque garden humour and very few sets survive anywhere in working order; these do, and they are demonstrated. The park was later given an English landscape treatment around the formal core, so it reads as two periods at once. The castle interior has furnished rooms and a collection.

What you actually see

• Working trick fountains - hidden jets in the paving, still turned on unannounced.
• A shell gallery - lined with shells and minerals, fed by the spring water.
• A round medieval keep - the thirteenth-century survivor of the castle.
• Two garden periods - baroque water works inside a later English landscape park.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Honest expectations

The trick fountains genuinely soak people and are operated deliberately - expect to get wet if you walk that path. Seasonal opening, closed in winter. The castle interior is a limited guided route.

Nearby

Arnhem is south-west; the Veluwezoom park is directly behind.