Bisschoppenhof

Bisschoppenhof is a castle complex in Antwerp, surrounded by a public park of almost three hectares. Its white-stone main building stands beside a ring-shaped moat. A sixteenth-century gatehouse, brick-and-sandstone wings, and slate roofs bring several building periods together.

The estate grew from a former episcopal villa and changed hands after the Battle of Worringen in 1288. A motte, tower, farms, stables, and gardens shaped its earlier landscape. The seventeenth-century rebuilding created the pleasure house whose foundations still support the main building. An early nineteenth-century wing contains a salon with stucco ceilings and Empire-style doors. A right-angled wing and tower joined the complex in the early twentieth century.

Curving paths cross the eastern park among silver maple, Japanese pagoda tree, black mulberry, and Kentucky coffeetree. The original moat connects with a ditch along the eastern side. A youth centre and playground now occupy the motte, while the gatehouse preserves a basket-arch entrance and vaulted passage. A pseudo-donjon beside the moat completes the layered silhouette.