Poeke Castle (Belgium)

Poeke is derived from the stream with the same name "poca". This Keltric word means "the beautiful" or "the pleasant."

The oldest mention about Poeke dates from 1155. Historically, the village belonged to the end of the Ancien Régime (1789) in the administrative area of ​​the Kasselrij Kortrijk and came under the Roede van Tielt. The village probably originated around the castle of the lords of Poeke.


These lords of the castle were important noblemen in the medieval county of Flanders. From their walled, fortified fortress, they supported the control of the Leie Valley by the Counts of Flanders. In 1452, during a revolt, rebellious Ghent city dwellers conquered the castle. The following year, Philip the Good, count of Flanders and duke of Borgondië, defeated the occupiers without mercy. The castle was totally destroyed.

Until 1577, what was left of the building remained in ruins. In 1597 the ruin came into the hands of the noble family Preudhomme d’Hailly de Nieuport. These gentlemen had the castle rebuilt in the first half of the 17th century into a representative and recreational residence. The most famous baron of this family, Karel Florent Idesbald (1721-1792), during the Austrian Time Chamberlain of Governor Karel van Lorraine, tried to set up silkworm rearing on the estate. This failed miserably. The family became impoverished in the course of the 19th century and in 1872 was forced to sell the castle to the Pycke de Peteghem family.

The new lord had his coat of arms applied in the pediment. He also had the beautiful wrought-iron gates erected in front of the building and radically rebuilt the rear facade of the castle by setting up a chapel on the first floor. He gave the strict classicist building more bravado by adding numerous rococo elements. The castle park, which was previously classicistly linear, (including the front garden, the eight-star) also received numerous romantic impulses (grass and forest plots with surprising lines and curves). He also provided a number of new buildings, including the coach house, a walled vegetable garden and a circular kennel with a central and bakehouse in it.

In 1955 the last descendant of the genus Pycke de Peteghem died. The building and park first came into the hands of vzw Duinen en Heide, a foundation that took care of abandoned children. In 1977, with the merger of municipalities, the domain became the property of the municipality of Aalter, which thoroughly restored the castle in 1996-1997.

The lending court of the lords of the castle, on the domain itself, was the most important farm in the village. In addition, there are other farms that still exist, such as the Goed in Leurbroek, the Goed ter Baenst, the Haveskerkegoed, the Goed in Landschoot, the Goed in Hollebeke, the Goed in Boris and the Goed ter Eken.