Alden Biesen Castle, Rijkhoven, Belgium

The knights of the Teutonic Order originally founded the Alden Biesen commandery in the 11th century, but the current buildings were constructed between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was the headquarters of a bailiwick or province of the Teutonic Order in the region of the Maas and Rhine. On 8 March 1971 the building burnt down and was acquired by the government and restored. In addition to the moated castle, the complex contains a church and gardens.

The castle is used today as a cultural centre and conference centre. Festivals such as the Scottish weekend or the International Story Festival are held there.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

Martijn Tobbackx (7 months ago)
Beautiful historical site. Clean and tidy place

Yolanda Santana (9 months ago)
The floral masters yearly event. My daughter is a master European designer.

Bob Jackson (10 months ago)
Fleurameur floral exhibition.... Very much enjoyed. Inspiring, educational and beautiful designs and creative concepts. So much more than expected.

Sophie's Foodie Files (10 months ago)
The Grand Commandery is founded in 1220 by the German Order of the Teutonic Knights. It is a big domain owned now by Flanders, our Flemish part of Belgium! You can visit the castle with a guide if you like. The domain outside is big & beautiful. On the inside of the grounds , there is also a good visitor information centre & free toilets. There are many walks that begin in the grounds of the castle. We walked one. The castle & grounds are all very well kept & preserved. Worth a day visit! Often, there are events in the day or evenings! There is also an apostelhuis, a lovely restaurant.

Liam Schurmans (11 months ago)
It's so beautiful and peaceful and perfect for a long evening or morning walk. Bilzen Mysteries is also very nice.

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The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood is one of the main sights of St. Petersburg. The church was built on the site where Tsar Alexander II was assassinated and was dedicated in his memory. Construction began in 1883 under Alexander III, as a memorial to his father, Alexander II. Work progressed slowly and was finally completed during the reign of Nicholas II in 1907. Funding was provided by the Imperial family with the support of many private donors.

Architecturally, the Cathedral differs from St. Petersburg's other structures. The city's architecture is predominantly Baroque and Neoclassical, but the Savior on Blood harks back to medieval Russian architecture in the spirit of romantic nationalism. It intentionally resembles the 17th-century Yaroslavl churches and the celebrated St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow.

The Church contains over 7500 square metres of mosaics — according to its restorers, more than any other church in the world. The interior was designed by some of the most celebrated Russian artists of the day — including Viktor Vasnetsov, Mikhail Nesterov and Mikhail Vrubel — but the church's chief architect, Alfred Alexandrovich Parland, was relatively little-known (born in St. Petersburg in 1842 in a Baltic-German Lutheran family). Perhaps not surprisingly, the Church's construction ran well over budget, having been estimated at 3.6 million roubles but ending up costing over 4.6 million. The walls and ceilings inside the Church are completely covered in intricately detailed mosaics — the main pictures being biblical scenes or figures — but with very fine patterned borders setting off each picture.

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