Nederland - Schin op Geul, Kasteel Schaloen

Kasteel Schaloen (Castle Schaloen) - also named Chaloen - was first mentioned in 1375. It was owned by the knights Johan Struver van Hoelsbergh (or Hulsberg) and Geraerdt Mulaerdt. The first one became the full owner and the castle stayed within his family for the next one and a half century.

During the Eighty Years' War (1568 - 1648) Schaloen was occupied by Lodewijk van Nassau, but a year later it was destroyed by Spanish troops. The ruined castle came in the hands of Johan Reinier Hoen van Cartiels, who rebuilt it in 1656, using local marl.

Through marriage the castle came in possession of the De Villers Masbourg-family. Famous Dutch architect Pierre Cuypers was in charge of the restoration (1894) of the castle in a neo-Gothic style. The last owner of noble descent, a countess, left the castle in 1934.

The castle has been used as a school, but nowadays it is a private house. The stables and outbuildings are now used as a hotel and restaurant. The castle is surrounded by a moat, which is fed with water from the Molenbeek, a branch of the river Geul.