A Sunny Day in Gors & Vliermaal

Report & photos by Johan Vanbrabant

The drive to Gors was a pleasure in itself, under a blue sky, through a rolling landscape, past fertile fields, meadows and fruit trees, through historic villages with little churches and large farms.

And then the surprise, the castle of Gors that shines white along the road!

Note: The British would call it a country house or simply a ‘House’. For them, a castle is a fortification with battlements and a defensive function. In the Low Countries, any country house of a wealthy family is called a castle (kasteel).

Website:www.kasteelgors.be

The core of the castle dates from the 17th century, surrounded on three sides by moats. In 1820 it was completely renovated in classicist Empire style and since 1986 it has been a protected monument.

We were welcomed by the owner Joris Dillen, a passionate man who recently had the entire castle renovated, including the spacious cellar vaults. A colossal work – entirely in the style of the National Trust – of which he is rightly proud.

His practical approach was evident in his expert commentary on the restoration and renovation work. The tour of the interiors, the surrounding park and the semi-subterranean vaults was concluded with a glass of prosecco in the bar, the former kitchen.

After the reception, we just crossed the street to the former village rectory, now a catering establishment appropriately called ‘De Pastorie’, for lunch and -in a separate room- the annual General Meeting of the Members of our association (AGM).

By the way, De Pastorie is a social project for people with disabilities or long-term unemployed, managed by vzw De Wroeter in Kortessem. In addition to lunch, we also enjoyed our welcome coffee here, upon arrival in the morning.

Chairman Jan Grauls led the meeting in good order. The report of the AGM will be posted on the website.

After the meeting, Peter Dufaux, the organizer of the day, gave instructions on the road to the nearby village of Vliermaal and a short introduction about the square farmhouse Renard, the historic home (1888), farm and cold rooms of a family of former fruit growers, mostly apples and pears.

In 2020 the foundation ‘Nationale Boomgaardenstichting’ was able to buy the farm and preserves it as heritage in the state it had in the 1940-ies.

As an option we could end the day with wine tasting at the ‘Domein Scorpion’, which produces excellent ‘méthode traditionelle’ sparkling wines.

Many thanks to Peter Dufaux for organising a most enjoyable day.

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