Despite being demolished in its entirety in 2010, the Belgian house is known around the world as Casteel Van Mesen remains one of the most popular castles in the world. Built by the Marquess of the Belgian town of Lede by the Italian architect and decorator Giovanni Niccolo Servandoni, which is often seen as the masterpiece of the designer. The facade of the building was commissioned by the 4th Marquess of Lede in the 18th-century and was created by Servandoni and is one of the finest examples of a colonnade in the world.
The history of the castle at Lede dates back to the 16th-century when wooden buildings were constructed, but the 18th-century castle remains the best-known and most impressive building on the site. Despite being used as a boarding school throughout the early and mid-20th-century, the building fell into disrepair after the school was closed the 1970s. Artists and photographers flocked to the site of Kasteel Van Mesen throughout the last decade of the 20th-century and the first decade of the 21st-century. The disrepair of the castle in its latter years allowed for beautiful photographs and images to be captured of the stunning stained glass windows which remained largely intact. Kasteel Van Mesen was completely demolished in 2010 but remains known for the beauty of its last few years and features in a video game keeping its memory alive.
