Attractions and Places To See around Kortemark - Top 20

you should definitely go in there, if only for a cup of coffee. The place is an info about the plan map which only gives interesting facts

the place is worth looking around, the tower is an awkward thing and disturbing in the nature experience.

Nowadays the castle is a luxury hotel/restaurant and conference centre (Restaurant realised in 1990 and hotel built in 1996 by the then organisers of the Rock Torhout festival). On the other side of the Torhout - Oostende road lies the domain of the Wijnendale castle.

The history of 'Domein d' Aertrycke' begins in 1865 when August de Maere, the spiritual father of the port of Zeebrugge, acquired 98 ha of the 'Verloren Kost' domain. In 1869 he had the now centrally located neo-Gothic castle built to a design by the Antwerp architect Joseph Schadde. In 1897 August de Maere, who had in the meantime been elevated to the nobility, was given permission to add d'Aertrycke to his name. With the exception of a short period after the First World War, the domain remained the property of the family. Xavier de Maere, the last owner of the castle, became known as second-in-command of the Belgian South Pole Expedition 1958-1959. After the death of his mother, who was the last of the family to live in the castle, he concluded an agreement with the West Flemish provincial government for the partial opening of the castle domain to the general public. In 2012, the province acquired full ownership and Domein d'Aertrycke became a fully-fledged provincial domain.

The castle De Maere d'Aertrycke is a castle in the Belgian city of Torhout. The neo-Gothic castle was built from 1868 to 1871 by order of August de Maere, the castle is still popularly called De Maeres castle. It is located between the center of Torhout, Wijnendale and Aartrijke. The castle is located in a romantic garden with a large pond, meadows and forests. The domain has a great natural value. Roe deer, Western European hedgehog and the European red squirrel are the mammals that live there. Birds are richly represented with the tufted duck, great spotted woodpecker, moorhen, coot, grebe, jackdaw, nuthatch, tree creeper, finch, blue tit and great tit. There are also amphibians: the brown frog and the common toad.

There are a total of four lookout towers in the Blankaart. This one here is the highest: 10m. It overlooks the reed marshes and the wet hay fields. The inspiration for the design of the viewpoints comes from the reed marshes. Just as the bittern blends with its tall figure into the reeds, the towers blend into the open space of the Blankaart, while at the same time they are beacons in the landscape. The rising walls with sloping elements, openings and green plexiglass refer to the reed collars in which birds can hide and which still have a certain transparency. Source: https://pers.vlm.be/nieuwe-uitkijktorens-in-natuurgebied-de-blankaart

The Blankaart is freely accessible from sunrise to sunset. The visitor centre (currently still in the castle, but will 'soon' move to a new building closer to the car park) is open at least every week from Wednesday to Sunday from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m.

The castle's coach house has been the workshop or studio for Natuurpunt volunteers who are involved in nature management on the Blankaart for years. Natuurpunt was able to purchase that site in 2011. Natuurpunt volunteers provide permanent staff in the visitors' centre in the castle. They provide reception, provide information to visitors and run a small cafeteria. This year, work will start on a new studio and a new reception in the visitors' domain. Because it also became apparent that restoring the studio was not feasible, we decided with Natuurpunt to demolish the studio and build something new there with a dual function: studio and reception. After all, the accessibility of the current visitors' centre is literally insufficiently accessible: you have to overcome quite a few (fairly high) stairs. The new building in a wooden frame is very close to the car park, will only be on the ground floor and visitors will be guided from the car park past the reception. Source: https://www.nieuwsblad.be/cnt/dmf20231005_95097412