Castle of Moerzeke, currently the training center of the Brothers of Love

Castle of Moerzeke or castle Nieulant, later retreat house O.-L.-Vrouw Middelares and now training center of the Brothers of Charity.

Castle domain located in the immediate vicinity of the village square of Moerzeke with an old parish church and not far from the Scheldt. The castle derives its name from the de Nieulant family, who owned the castle from the early 19th century until the 20th century.

Tracing back to the site with moats of a feudal court, being the residence of the local lord of the lordship of Moerzeke. Very little is known about the initial lords of the castle of Moerzeke and their residence. In the 13th century, the first holder of the lordship is found, who bears the title lord of Moerzeke, namely a knight of Grimbergen-Assche who married a lady from the noble family de Murceka. In the 14th century, Gerard van Grimbergen owned a residence in Moerzeke that was described as a castle. The Grimbergen family was succeeded by the van Maldegem family, the last of whom was lord of Moerzeke until 1484. There are indications that some members of the van Maldegem family also resided in Moerzeke. In 1488, during the troubles under Maximilian of Austria, the castle of Moerzeke was not spared from the destruction at that time and remained uninhabited for a long time afterwards. Mention is made of a castle with moats not far from the Scheldt. On the map of Moerzeke from 1571 by P. de Buck and F. Horenbault, only a modest building is depicted in the vicinity of the current castle domain, accompanied by a smaller structure without water bodies. However, a document from 1608 mentions: "The old castle with buildings standing on it, with archways and entrances leading to Aubrouck and Aubrouck street in Moesicke." According to Lindanus (1612), the buildings were still in ruins at that time. According to A. Sanderus, Charles van der Borch, lord of Moerzeke (1625-1648), had a new castle built on the ruins of the destroyed castle of the lords of Moerzeke. Images of this castle have been preserved in engravings before and in A. Sanderus' Flandria Illustrata. According to a 17th-century map of Moerzeke, the location of the then-moated castle on Aubroeck street corresponds to the current castle domain.

On July 16, 1755, the young lord Emmanuel Augustijn Van den Meersche (°1714-†1791), lord of Berlare and Bareldonk, became the owner of the lordship of Moerzeke and immediately also of the lordly castle. In 1757, it was described as "a large castle with the shed and stabling, masonry gates, dove house and .... also the gardens and orchards, hedges, walls, and drives..." The depiction of the castle site in the land book of Moerzeke from 1772-1782 shows a somewhat modified layout of buildings and canals compared to the 17th-century condition. It concerns a castle "between courtyard and garden" with outbuildings and gardens located within a large rectangular moat. The forecourt had outbuildings to the north on the side of the access bridge and to the east next to the orchard, and a driveway that runs diagonally from the entrance to the village square. The Ferraris map (1771-1778) depicts a similar castle site with partly formally laid out gardens behind the castle buildings.

In 1796, Charles-Francois, count de Lichtervelde inherited the castle. Through the marriage of his daughter to burgrave Charles de Nieulant, it came into the possession of the de Nieulant family. According to the cadastral plan of 1828, the layout of the forecourt had since changed: at the height of the entrance, the moat now shows a bulge; the then-layout in U-shape consisting of two parallel rectangular service buildings and behind them the actual castle with a small addition at the front has been recognizable within the current building stock. Presumably, modifications were also repeatedly made to the residential building of the castle throughout the 19th century. From 1907, it was inhabited by a cousin of the de Nieulant family, Baron Gontran de Crombrugghe de Looringhe - de Neve de Rode, while the de Nieulant family remained the owners. According to cadastre data from 1907 and 1910 and old postcards, the residential building somewhat changed shape during that time due to small extensions (at the back and left side).

At the public auction of the domain in 1935, the castle domain became the property of the Sisters of St. Vincent a Paulo with a convent in Wichelen and Moerzeke, under the impulse of the priest Poppe Committee, with the aim of establishing a retreat house and place of rest there. The dilapidated condition and new destination led to extensive alterations and extensions to the building stock according to construction plans drawn up by architect F. Van Severen (Dendermonde). In 1936, the former orangery on the west side of the forecourt was transformed into a retreat house, consecrated on 03.07.1936. The corresponding wing on the east side of the forecourt, the former gardener's house with bakery, washroom, stables, storage spaces, and adjoining greenhouse, first underwent a number of internal changes for a new function as a camp house for girls (1942) and later laundry (1945). In 1950, this wing was extensively renovated as an extension of the retreat house. This wing then received a front that corresponded to the earlier modified western service wing and was later also enlarged at the rear. In 1937, a new convent chapel was built against the eastern side wall of the castle (consecrated on 08.06.1938). Furthermore, the castle received various new extensions at the rear according to plans from 1938, also by architect F. Van Severen, with service rooms for the sisters' accommodation. The interior of the castle has also undergone numerous changes.

In 1954, the northern part of the castle domain outside the moat, including the driveway, was sold to the priest Poppe Committee to establish a memorial chapel for priest E. Poppe (see Kasteellaan nr. 3). Since 2001, the castle domain has been in the possession of "De Broeders van Liefde vzw" and houses a scholasticate, a training and reflection center.

The castle domain clearly preserves several elements dating back to the castle site from the second half of the 18th century, including: the spacious rectangular moat (with the west side facing the street) where the buildings and part of the castle park are located, with an access bridge over the northern moat, from where the driveway runs diagonally to the street. The entrance at the street is closed off by an iron access gate on high square brick gate pillars, according to an old postcard previously finished with plastering and topped with a strikingly stylized decorative vase crowning. Access over the northern moat via a brick access bridge with matching railing and provided with a flat cobbled roadway.

The current castle has a complex floor plan and a hybrid appearance, especially due to the extensions made in 1937-38. All facades are painted white or beige on a gray plinth and covered with slate roofs. The old, L-shaped volume of two and a half building layers, known from postcards from the early 20th century, is still clearly recognizable. It comprises a main component with a façade of four bays covered by a gable roof and to the right a projecting cross wing of six bays long under a lower perpendicular gable roof. In essence, the described volume, according to limited building traces inside, likely still dates back to the second half of the 18th century: as evidenced by the arched cellar under the cross wing and furthermore on the ground floor and first upper floor the presence of beam brackets and decorative moldings in the plastered ceilings. The lower second upper floor was added later, probably still in the 19th century. The flat plastered list facades of the castle predominantly retain rectangular wall openings previously with shutters; three round-arched windows in the front façade, of which the middle one relates back to the former entrance door. The extension in the angle with the current access was added by the sisters. The grand entrance hall still has a colorful neo-Gothic ceramic tile floor (in red, yellow, black, and white) and relief representations of medieval-looking characters against the consoles of the beam brackets.

The chapel was built as a low pendant of the old cross wing. The choir façade at the front of the castle is compositionally related to the middle risalit of the service buildings at the forecourt. The gable forms a triangular pediment on four pilasters. Centrally provided with a framed round-arched niche with a statue of O.-L.-Vrouw with Child by sculptor Sinia (Ghent). Below is the founding stone dated 1937 and commission to Maria Middelares in a Latin inscription. The eclectically styled chapel is further designed soberly with neo-Romanesque reminiscences in the applied round arches. According to archival photos and old postcards, both facing former service buildings (orangery and farm) on the forecourt side had a corresponding façade with monumental allure and symmetrical front. Quite large rectangular buildings nine bays long, which possibly both still rose to the second half of the 18th century, with a middle risalit of three bays articulated by pilasters and crowned by a wide triangular pediment. Both wings retained more or less their original volume and risalit after the renovations to retreat houses (respectively in 1936 and 1950), however, with the omission of the high round-arched windows of the orangery and the gates of the shed. A number of original rectangular wall openings on the ground floor in frames with ears were preserved. Added small rectangular window openings, including a register of upper windows. The southern side wall of the orangery was previously a stepped gable opened by a high round-arched window, modified to a pointed gable with an extension. Current facades of red brick construction with whitewashed bands and pilasters; gable roofs with black tiles. In the northern side wall of the orangery is a coat of arms stone dated 1881; it is believed to be a memorial stone for festivities for the return of the children de Nieulant after a honeymoon.

Within the moat lies a landscaped park with spacious lawns, a pond, and a small open hexagonal pavilion in decorative ironwork.

Stichting Open Kerken