Kasteel van Spiere-Helkijn

Kasteel van Spiere is a castle with layered medieval and later history, situated in Kortrijk. The current structure dates to 1710, built by Nicolaas del Fosse et d'Espierres, who received permission in 1720 to use the baron title. The estate preserves important archaeological features, including underground vaults constructed in Doornikse stone with arched ceilings beneath the castle's motte, representing a surviving remnant of an earlier 14th-century fortified castle destroyed in 1477 during the war against the Duke of Burgundy. Continuously inhabited by its original builder's descendants until modern times, the castle changed to private ownership in 2004, maintaining its significance as a testament to centuries of regional nobility and medieval fortification practices.