Rooigemsebeek hiking route

You'll now walk until you reach the castle domain de Gerlache. The road passes an ochre-coloured wall containing the chapel of the Ast. Above the wall is a curious tower built during the First World War as an observation tower, from where you could see both Ghent and Oudenaarde. During the interwar period, the tower served as a chicory drying plant or 'ast', a name that carried over to the surrounding area. In the park stands the Kasteel ter Ast or Kasteel de Gerlache, a French-style pile inhabited by the descendants of Antarctic explorers Adrien and Gaston de Gerlache.

This would not be a route in the Flemish Ardennes if you did not come across chapels in several places. Many of them are painted bright blue, a reference to Mary to whom the chapels are dedicated.

This late 18th-century castle is sometimes called the 'Petit Trianon' of Flanders, after Marie-Antoinette's pleasure garden of the same name at Versailles. The builder Alphonse Baut de Rasmont wanted the neoclassical castle to be an ideal living environment with nature and culture in the lead role, completely in the spirit of the Enlightenment. The plans came from French architect Guimard, who had also designed the Royal Park and Place Royale in Brussels.

The Frenchman chose an English-style castle park, with an orangery, a pheasant cage, a pavilion and a pond, complete with an island. The Wannegem-Ledestraat runs right through the park, which is protected as a monument and landscape. Until 1996, the castle was owned by the old noble de Ghellinck family, but it is now in the hands of a private owner.