Along Sijseel's castle domains

Appointment at the village church of Sijsele (V), borough of Damme. This neo-Gothic St. Martin's Church dates from 1897. Walk with your back to the church to the left along the N9 and after 150 m to the left again into the Kerkweg. Ignore the Kruisstraat on the right and turn right 100 m further, still in the Kerkweg. On the right is the military domain of the 51st Battalion logistics and on the left you can see the towers of the Castle Ten Torre above the treetops. At the end of the Kerkweg you cross the asphalt road and walk past the chapel to the right in a beautiful beech drive. At the first intersection, turn left, now in a lane of canada poplars. After 300 m, walk right into the Vossenberg. This takes you back to the N9 after more than 300 m past an old railway bed, now walking cycle path. Cross carefully and continue straight ahead in a wide lane, which later becomes a narrower path. On the asphalt road, turn left. The beautiful forest of Scots pine and larch on your right is not accessible. At the end of the Antwerpse Heerweg you step a few meters further to the right and you come to an entrance gate of the castle of Male 1. The counts of Flanders already had a hunting lodge here from the 12th century and Philips the Bold had the castle completely renovated in 1390. The Sisters of St. Trudo Abbey bought the castle of Male in 1952 and restored the medieval silhouette. Turn left straight across the entrance gate, cross the N9 again (carefully!) and walk straight on a narrow cobblestone road, in a long, straight beech drive to the Rijckevelde Domain. After just over a kilometer you will arrive at the neo-Gothic castle of Rijckevelde 2, built in 1913 and since the fifties an International and European Training Center. The domain is very quietly located, surrounded by beautiful lanes and vast forests and voted the most beautiful spot during the Pasar action Neighbor Nature. Turn right past the castle to the other side of the beautiful pond. Here you can see on the right the remains of a fortified farm 3 from the 17th century. Walk back around the pond and take the narrow path to the right at the castle. After 150 m there is a metal garden fence on the left. Walk to the left before and along the fence and after another 150 m to the right. Here is the entrance to a beautiful nature educational heme garden 4 , with the typical landscape elements and biotopes of the poor sandy soils that characterize the region. Along a walking path of almost one and a half kilometers and 40 information boards (also for the blind) you will pass a road verge, land dune, heath, pools, a standard orchard, a field, a forest edge, deciduous forest and coniferous forest. When leaving the garden, turn right and after 50 m at the fork turn right again. After 75 m, do not walk further along the fence, but continue straight on in a narrower forest path. When leaving the forest you come to a wide paved road. After 100 m at the T-junction, walk to the right and ignore the field road immediately on the left. The dirt road soon turns to the left and takes you to an asphalt road. Straight. On the right is the entrance to the Oedelem castle Ten Torre 5 from around 1845. Continue walking in the Zomerstraat West, with a beautiful, white long-gabled farmhouse on the left. After 300 m take the Meibosweg on the left. On the right is the municipal domain Meibosvijver, with fishing ponds and clubhouse of the local angling club. Herons are not wanted here, hence the numerous thin threads stretched across the pond. Another half kilometer to the N9 and then back to the right to the starting point.