The beautiful bluestone Château de Seneffe lies at the end of a long drive in a forgotten corner of Belgium. It is not too well known, yet this is one of the most intriguing castles in the country.
It was built in the eighteenth century by a wealthy arms dealer from Brussels. The nouveau riche owner set out to impress his visitors with a classical château, formal gardens and Palladian theatre.
Abandoned in the twentieth century, the building came close to being demolished, but was eventually restored by the Belgian government as a museum of silverware.
The intimate interiors on the ground floor were recently redesigned to evoke the intellectual and sensual mood of the Enlightenment. After slipping on shoe covers to protect the parquet, you can wander through the rooms to experience the sounds, smells and fabrics of the eighteenth century. It is an astonishingly rich and erotic experience, inspired by rococo paintings.
You can also watch a film on 18th-century science, eat lunch in the former orangery and listen to philosophical discussions in the little theatre in the garden.
But perhaps the most decadent moment comes on Saturday and Sunday afternoons when you can order hot chocolate from a silver pot in a quaint Chinese salon.
Derek Blyth’s hidden secret of the day: Derek Blyth is the author of the bestselling “The 500 Hidden Secrets of Belgium”. He picks out one of his favourite hidden secrets for The Brussels Times every day.
