Kasteel van Zwijnaarde hosts seminars, product presentations, business lunches, staff parties and weddings in a moated castle at Zwijnaarde, on the edge of Ghent. The rooms take from 10 guests in a small salon up to 250 at a standing reception in the winter garden.
Seminars and company events
The castle sells seminars with all-in formulas. The team offers about twelve ready-made formulas, collected in a seminar brochure, and will build a tailored version on request. Wifi covers the whole building, and the castle can supply the equipment a seminar needs. A list of that equipment sits at the end of the brochure.
Beyond seminars, the official site lists product presentations, business lunches and staff parties. For staff parties the team develops a theme with the client. A seminar can be followed by a golf introduction, because the castle stands inside a nine-hole golf course.
Weddings and receptions
Weddings are a main activity. Receptions take place in the front garden and on the bridge of the castle. The banquet is served in the winter garden and the adjoining salons, with a view of the ponds and the golf course. The evening party with dancing is held in the entrance hall and on the terrace. Once a couple picks a date, the castle holds it free of charge for three to four weeks, without obligation.
Rooms and capacities
The Regency is a large first-floor room of 150 m2. It takes 150 people in theatre style, 50 in classroom style and 45 in a U-shape for meetings, and receptions of up to 150 or banquets of up to 90.
The winter garden was fully renovated. It covers 180 m2 along the whole back of the castle, with a wooden floor, glass walls and air conditioning. It seats 150 at a banquet and takes 250 at a reception. For meetings it holds 200 in theatre style, 100 in classroom style and 40 in a U-shape.
The Salon Chinois measures 50 m2 (40 theatre, 30 classroom, 25 U-shape). The Salon Vert measures 42 m2 (30 theatre, 20 classroom, 25 U-shape). The Salon des Anges is a small room on the first floor for meetings of up to 15 people, and the Salon Suite takes 6 to 8. The entrance hall covers 105 m2 and serves for arrivals, receptions and walking dinners. It also works as a dance floor.
Catering
The castle runs its own catering, described as refined, for company and family events. The same kitchen works on site, at a client's company or at home. A Sunday buffet brunch runs from 12:00 to 16:00.
History and setting
A fortress stood on the site from the eleventh century. In 1526 the castle, then the country house of the abbot of Saint Peter's Abbey in Ghent, was where Isabella of Austria, sister of Emperor Charles V, died. The medieval water castle was destroyed between 1577 and 1584, and Abbot Joachim Schaeyck had it rebuilt in the seventeenth century. After the French state sold it in 1797 it passed to the della Faille d'Huysse family, who altered it in neoclassical style around 1836. It was destroyed again in the First World War, and the present neo-rococo building came into use in 1922. It stands in a park with old trees, a moat with fountains, a golf course and a heliport.
Getting there
The castle sits near the junction of the E40 and E17 and 5 km from the historic center of Ghent. From the E17 take exit 8, De Pinte-Zevergem, and follow the signs toward Ghent, then the Tramstraat. A free private car park is on the grounds, and a helicopter landing site is available.
