Belle van Zuylen's home
The rebellious Enlightenment author's house, with her library.
Gil.cavalcanti — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Arjandb — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Ton Schollen — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ton Schollen — CC BY-SA 4.0
Opposites: De Haar is larger and grander but a modern reconstruction with a fairy-tale touch — for families and awe; Zuylen is smaller, genuine and real with its residents' stories — for the lover of true history and quiet. For a first visit near Utrecht: De Haar is more dazzling; for authenticity: Zuylen. Both on the lovely river Vecht.
Sign in to write your review of this place.
No reviews yet — be the first.
Slot Zuylen is a genuine historic castle on the river Vecht north of Utrecht — older, smaller and more intimate than the grand De Haar, but real and never reconstructed: its foundation is medieval (thirteenth century) with an eighteenth-century façade, preserved with its furniture, library and kitchen as noble families lived in it for centuries. Its fame comes from its most famous resident: the writer Belle van Zuylen (Isabelle de Charrière), the rebellious Enlightenment author who lived here and whose bold correspondence became classics. The tour tells her life and that of the river nobility. Its walled garden has a serpentine wall (the "snake wall") that stores the sun's heat to ripen fruit — an ingenious Dutch gardening invention. A short trip from Utrecht (about 15 minutes) on the lovely castle-lined river Vecht — a genuine, quiet alternative to De Haar's splendour, for the lover of real history.
The rebellious Enlightenment author's house, with her library.
A serpentine garden wall storing sun heat to ripen fruit.
Preserved medieval authenticity on the loveliest castle river.
Tournooiveld 1, 3611 Oud-Zuilen