Along the three castles in the Lys region

Appointment at the Sint-Martinuskerk of Sint-Martens-Leerne, part of Deinze. For the GPS in the car: Sint-Martens-Leerne, intersection of Leernsesteenweg and Damstraat (V). You can also get there by public transport: line 14 of De Lijn from Ghent-Sint-Pieters station or from Deinze station. From the church, cross the stone road, walk to the right and after 150 meters turn diagonally left, also on the Leernsesteenweg, towards the church of Bachte-Maria-Leerne. After 300 meters, turn left into the Ooidonkdreef, a beautiful linden drive, towards castle of Ooidonk. Soon you will see the Church of Our Lady and St. John the Baptist on the right and a little further you walk under the Blue Gate, a former gateway to the Ooidonk domain. At the end of the Ooidonkdreef you will come to the entrance of the Castle of Ooidonk, one of the most beautiful castles in Belgium. The castle is an old moated castle, built in the twelfth century as a farm. It was destroyed and rebuilt a few times over the centuries and belonged to the defensive belt of the Ghent Castle of the Counts in the Middle Ages. At the end of the sixteenth century, the defensive castle was converted into a residential site. The most famous inhabitant was probably Philip of Montmorency, better known as the Count of Horne, who was beheaded in 1568 together with his friend, the Count of Egmont, by order of Philip II on the Grand Place in Brussels. The castle is nowadays a beautiful example of the Flemish Renaissance style. The surrounding park is open all year round (except Mondays) and in summer you can also visit the castle itself on Sundays and public holidays.