Kasteel Borrekens

Vorselaar, Belgium, Belgium

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Kasteel Borrekens, also called Kasteel van Vorselaar or Borrekens Castle, is a 13th-century water castle in the municipality of Vorselaar in Antwerp province, Belgium.

It was originally built around 1270 by the knights of Rotselaar (Arnolf or Gerard van Rotselaar) as a fortified stronghold for the Brabantic nobility, and from the start it had a rectangular plan, was constructed of white sandstone from Grimbergen, and was surrounded by a wide moat with fortified towers flanking the main entrance to hinder attackers.

Over the centuries the castle’s basic footprint remained largely unchanged, but it underwent major transformations: in 1678 it was rebuilt and reinforced in stone under Father Charles Eugène d’Arenberg, and between 1862 and 1885 the then mayor of Vorselaar, Philippe van de Werve, remodelled it into its present neo-Gothic appearance with ornate towers, pointed gables, and decorative stonework, giving it the dramatic romantic look that still defines it today.