Kasteel Eijsden

I reviewed my plan for the day and my first stop would be the Kasteel at Eijsden. According to Google Maps it was a 25 minute drive from my house

Well, as often happens here a 25 minute drive turned into a bit over an hour's drive. There is often congestion where A2 goes along the edge of Maastricht. Two lanes go down to one before A79 merges into A2. Of course, the normal cheaters want to drive past everyone (down the soon to end lane) sitting patiently in the file and the Dutch drivers typically don't seem to care.  I find it extremely annoying.

By the time I got to Eijsden (pronounced "Eyes-den" with the emphasis on the Z sound) I was hungry so I decided to eat first even though it was only a little past 1100. A few people riding by on their bike gave me the "eet smakelijk" greeting, which basically means "enjoy your meal". And I did; everything tastes better when eaten outdoors I find.  I also brought a couple extra drinks and snacks in a cooler since I find the Dutch prices ridiculously high.

I took a picture of the kasteel over top of the hedge before I went in and quite like it. This kasteel was built in 1636 so it is enjoying its 375th anniversary this year. It is built in what is called the Maasland Renaissance style. In later pictures I'll explain aspects of that style. Maasland is the region, in both Belgium and The Netherlands, that lies along the River Maas (Meuse in French). It is culturally distinct from the rest of The Netherlands. The Maas lies just behind the kasteel and I am sure that at one time there would have been a boat dock along the river since the Maas is one of the prime transportation nodes in France, Belgium, and The Netherlands.

The kasteel has been owned by only fours families in the past 375 years. The current owner is Graaf (Baron)Marcel de Liedekerke de Pailhe (he is Belgian). He is the second generation of the Liedekerke family to own the property. His father, Pierre, married the last daughter of the Geloes family (who owned the kasteel for many generations) and thus the kasteel transferred to the Liedekerke de Pailhe family. Pierre was executed by the NAZIs on 16 September 1943 when it was discovered that he had been hiding refugees in the basement of the kasteel.

I found the interior to be one of the prettiest and interesting interiors of a period building that I have ever seen. I have no training in such things but if I had to describe it I would say it is a blending of Tudor and German Hunting Lodge styles. The Baron still lives here (not full time I don't think but he does personally tend to the many rose gardens on the property so he must be there a lot) so we were only able to see the first floor. Each room was very unique from the others. The wood work was ornate without being ostentatious. It had clean, masculine lines except for the music room, which had a French or Italian flavor. The various families had collected antiques during the years to include a large mantle clock that once belonged to Marie Antoinette. There were other objects from other notable historic figures but I can't remember the details (a big problem when you are struggling with listening in a foreign language is you can't catch all the details). Unfortunately, because the owner still lives there we were not allowed to take pictures inside. In one room the tile floor created the illusion of three dimensions, which was actually un-nerving if you looked too hard. I found I had to ignore it to walk on it.

No battles were ever fought here but Napolean's troops did ransack the house and steal almost everything. The owner during that time was able to arrange to buy everything back. The soldiers were more interested in having some money to carry instead of large objects so the trade went pretty well. This southern area that is now part of The Netherlands was not exactly a safe place to live in the earlier years. So when this kasteel was built it was built with defense against marauders and criminal gangs in mind. Pictured here is one of the many firing ports, or loopholes, built into the kasteel and the outbuildings. Most of them are oriented to protect the small bridge that crosses the moat and the main poort or gateway into the protected area.

This picture is taken from just off the bridge and you can see the moat and the many loopholes on the tower. At one time it appears that the bridge was just a wooden gangway over the moat and the current brick bridge is relatively recent after life in this area became a little safer. There are some huge carp in this moat as well as koi.

The main gate to the property was rennovated in the mid-1800's and it was designed to close off the protected property every night for security. All the farm animals and equipment would have been brought inside every evening. Today, the gatehouse holds a couple apartments, which help to fund the property. The building to the far right, from where I took the picture, was probably home to the higher level workers and it was also studded with loopholes aimed at the main gate and the bridge over the moat.

The kasteel sits just off the River Maas and this picture was taken from that angle. On this side of the house was the "Gentlemen's Room" and the "Ladies' Room", both of which had large windows and stepout landings to get fresh air off the river as well as provide beautiful views. Just across the Maas is Belgium. It was a nice view from the house but they no longer keep the trees along the Maas cut back so the view is obstructed somewhat.

Maasland Renaissance (sometimes called "Mosan"), is a regional architectural style dating from the 17th and 18th centuries. The style is only remotely related to Renaissance architecture. The style has been applied predominantly in the Principality of Liège in present-day Belgium and the Netherlands, mainly in the city of Liège, the Land of Herve, and the regions of Belgian Limburg and Dutch South Limburg. The style is manifested in townhouses, castles, farms, manor houses, and sometimes in monasteries.

The Mosan Renaissance style developed in Liège in the 16th century during the reign of Erard de la Marck. The style is a take on earlier used methods of timber framing into which a new material (stone) has been incorporated. Stone-framed windows, decorated architraves and alternating layers of brick and stone are characteristic of the style. Most utilised materials that were endemic to the regions where the style prevailed, namely blue limestone (also known as Namur stone), brick and mergel (a type of chalk). The incorporation of as many windows as possible was to indicate wealth.

This building was built with central heating, which is pretty amazing for its time. There was a large wood "furnace" in the basement and air ducts cleverly distributed warm air throughout the building. There were fireplaces in some of the rooms but they were more for ambiance than function.

At some time in the 1800's several of the widows in the front of this view were enlarged to bring in more light. During a rennovation in the 1920's they were taken out and the windows were brought back into the proper scale. You can see the "new" materials used for this rennovation when you are up close.

In an earlier picture I show a rose. As I said growing roses is a hobby of the Baron. I am not a huge fan of roses mostly because they take so much work and are attacked by so many pests and diseases. But I do love the smell of some roses. There were probably a hundred different varieties of roses here. The one in this picture must be the same type (or closely related) to a rose I scavaged and was growing at our home at Fort Meade. The bugs would kill it back constantly but when it did manage to bloom the flower smelled like an orange or tangerine. This rose at Kasteel Eijsden smelled exactly like my rose at Meade.

I spent about two and a half hours wandering about the property to see the "gardens". At one time there were two garden themes here. One was the formal French garden with its rigid geometric patterns and the other was the open, naturalistic English garden designed around trees and landscape views. All that is really left is the English park-like theme and even that is pretty vague. But it was still nice to stroll the grounds and imagine what it was like in times past.