Maele Castle

Bruges, Belgium, Belgium

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Maele Castle, called Grafelijk Slot van Male in Dutch, is a former castle in the village of Male – now part of Sint-Kruis, a suburb of Bruges in West Flanders, Belgium.

Its origins are said to reach back to the 9th century as a defensive tower to protect the area around Bruges against Viking raids, and from the late 12th century it served as a hunting lodge and residence of the Counts of Flanders, with a stone castle and a chapel consecrated by Thomas Becket in 1166. The castle notably became the birthplace of Count Louis II of Flanders in 1330 (hence “Louis of Male”) and was a frequently contested stronghold, occupied by French forces and later retaken by Bruges in the 1302 uprising, while Duke Philip the Bold extensively rebuilt it from 1390 onward. 

After suffering destruction in World War II, the complex was largely rebuilt and, from 1954 until 2011/2013, functioned as St. Trudo’s Abbey (Sint-Trudoabdij), a house of the Canonesses Regular of the Holy Sepulchre, with new wings, a chapel, and guest rooms added around the medieval core. Today the castle is the property of the Deprez family; part of the grounds is used for the nearby Wijnen Van Maele wine estate, while the abbey buildings and park remain largely private, though the site is accessible from the outside and visible from the road leading from Bruges toward Ghent.