Castle Mariahove

The origin of the estate dates back to the mid-16th century when the Ghent family Rijm was the owner of the lordship of Bellem. Through Maria-Anna Rijm, the only daughter, heiress, and last bearer of the surname of the Rijm family, the estate came into the possession of her husband Lodewijk-Frans, prince de Montmorency. In 1808, princess Louisa de Montmorency sold the castle estate of Bellem to the Ghent textile baron Jacob Lieven van Caneghem. The current castle was built in 1815 according to the plans of architect Bruno Renard. Daughter Jeanne van Caeneghem was married to Eugène Joseph de Naeyer; their daughter Elise de Naeyer was the mother of Alice Marie de Kerchove. She was the great-great-grandmother of Princess Mathilde of Belgium. Around 1860, the castle acquired its neoclassical and current appearance.

The de Kerchove family lived there until it was transferred in 1965 to the Union of Cloister Sisters of the Diocese of Ghent. Only then did it receive the name Mariahove, to be used as a space for reflection and study. The last residing family built a new villa within the estate and moved in themselves. On May 17, 2006, Baroness Anne-Marie de Kerchove d'Exaerde passed away. She was born in 1902 and thus lived to be 104 years old. Anne-Marie married Baron Guy de Crombrugghe de Picqendaele, the mayor of Bellem, in 1924, with whom she had five children and a numerous descendants. With her, this branch of the family de Kerchove d'Exaerde died out.

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