Castle of Voorde

Hidden behind a tree-lined lane you can see the castle with its eventful history. First known lord of the castle was Zeger Van Voorde who lived in the early 13th century or was, according to other sources, Jan Van Idegem, in the 14th^{century alderman} in Geraardsbergen? A certain Jan Van Oostkerke, the Tedegemia family, the nobles of Gruuthuyse, the van Idegem family and Roeland van Wedergraete, whose tombstone is in front of the church door, once inhabited the (former) castle. The current castle was built in 1539 by Joos ven der Meere only to be set on fire by Ghent rebels a few decades later, in 1580, and restored again. Of the original late medieval moated castle with four corner towers, built in traditional sand and brick, the north wing with entrance gate, the flanking turrets and the two large corner towers, part of the east wing and the substructure of the south wing, still remain. The rest of the wings were modified in 1928. The drawbridge was replaced by a fixed access. In 1827, a double house with a neoclassical slant was built on the courtyard. Until 1736, the castle remained inhabited by the van der Meere family, descendants of the builder, and was then used as a farm with several successive private owners. Even later it became a convent of the "sisters of Vincentius a Paulo" of Buggenhout who also used the buildings as a school and so many Voorden residents have good and probably less good memories of "their" castle. In 1974, the neglected domain was purchased and subsequently restored by artist Yves Rhayé.

Yves Rhayé (°1936 - †1995), originally from Ostend, was an interior designer by training but soon discovered that he preferred to sculpt, model and paint. His oeuvre betrays his predilection for embryonic forms and fertility symbols, his surrealist creatures and primal figures evoke a fairytale-like, even eerie atmosphere. About the purchase of the castle of Voorde he is said to have once said: " This castle is the folly of my life". Nevertheless, he lived in the castle, "whose doors opened only to a few" until he was killed in a traffic accident in 1995.

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