It was a short trip through some of The Netherlands most peaceful and beautiful farmlands for us to get to Kasteel de Haar, and once we entered the village of Haarzuillens, we were greeted by the castle towers and gates that dominate the landscape of the village and what is known as the biggest castle in The Netherlands with over 200 rooms.

Monique, Jiska and I went into the little shop to pay the admissions fee of 8 Euros for me to tour the castle's interior on my own since the castle does not have elevators and Monique would not be able to manuever Jiska around and up stairs in her wheelchair. They would stay outside in the beautifully sculpted 1898 gardens that surround Kasteel de Haar. These gardens did not exist when Kasteel de Haar was reconstructed beginning in 1892. The original village of Haarzuillens was right next to Kasteel de Haar, but in 1898 it was torn down and relocated about 1.5 km north of Kasteel de Haar and the gardens with over 7,000 adult trees from Utrecht were put in the village's place.

So Monique and Jiska waited for me while I went inside to take my one-hour tour of Kasteel de Haar. Signs had the small group of tourists from the Netherlands and other places go to the basement/cafeteria to wait for our guide. I thought I would be the only English-speaking person in the tour group but a young couple came up to me asking me if I spoke English and when the tour would be starting, and I told them it would be soon. Finally, our guide, a nice young lady came and told us English speaking folks that we would be able to follow the tour by using audio equipment that could be activated in each room of our tour. Unfortunately, we could not take pictures inside the castle at all. Darn! So the majority of the photos from this review are from the outside of the castle, its gardens and petting zoo.

The present-day Kasteel de Haar is a young one, but the actual history of Kasteel de Haar and the land it is located on dates from 1391 when the original Kasteel de Haar was built by the de Haar family who received the land from Hendrik van Woerden as a feifdom. The name de Haar means "of Hair", but the castle is not made of hair. HA HA! Kasteel de Haar remained under the ownership of the de Haar family until 1440 when the last male heir of the family died without heirs. The van Zuylen family took over ownership of Kasteel de Haar and endured the castle's burning down in 1482 due to a fight between the van Zuylen family and the Bishop of Utrecht. The family tore down everything except non-military parts of the castle and rebuilt it during the early 16th century incorporating several of the non-damaged parts of the original castle giving it a distinct pentagon shape.

In 1641, Johan van Zuylen died without heirs and Kasteel de Haar began to fall into ruin. This was helped along when the French invaded the Netherlands in 1672, and from 1672-1673, Kasteel de Haar suffered damage from the French invaders. For over 128 years, Kasteel de Haar was in ruin and disrepair until 1801 when Johannes van Zuylen van Nijvelt inherited Kasteel de Haar from a distant relative. It was still in ruins until 1890 when his son Etienne van Zuylen van Nijvelt inherited Kasteel de Haar and began his dream of reconstructing the castle. But Etienne needed money to take on this expensive job, but his wishes were answered when the Catholic Baron Etienne van Zuylen van Nijvelt married the Jewish Helene de Rothschild and her family's money allowed reconstruction of Kasteel de Haar to begin in 1892.

When Etienne married Helene, it raised a little stink among the families, but in due time the stink disappated, and when you tour Kasteel de Haar, you can see evidence of both Catholic and Jewish religious icons throughout the castle especially in the dining room where Mogen Davids are carved in the crown molding trim around the ceiling of the room. From 1892-1912, Kasteel de Haar was rebuilt in the neo-Gothic style of architecture by Dutch architect Pierre J.H. Cuypers, who wanted the entire castle done only by him, but Helene de Rothschild van Zuylen had her bedroom done by another architect pissing off Cuypers to the point he refused to step inside her bedroom for as long as he lived. Too bad, Helene's bedroom is a beautiful room done in the French style of soft shades of pink with French doors and an in-ground bathtub and view of the garden. The gardens were done in the French Baroque style by Henri Copijn and can be seen from several vantage points throughout the castle during the tour.

The tour lasted about an hour, which was too short for me being that I really enjoyed the history and the architecture of Kasteel de Haar. Today, the castle is now under the ownership of The Netherlands but the van Zuylen family uses it one weekend a year to host a huge annual party for many rich and famous people from around the world. One of the guest rooms I toured in Kasteel de Haar was the room that the great actor Gregory Peck slept in during his visit and Roger Moore, the second James Bond, was said to have flung a chicken across the dining room trying to serve himself during dinner one night. The kitchen itself is somewhere I would love to do some serious cooking with its huge woodstove and copper cookware.

After the tour was over, I went outside in the chilly air (I wore shorts and was feeling it a little bit but toughed it out) and rejoined Monique and Jiska. We walked around the gardens whose gravel roads can make it hard to get a wheelchair around, but Monique and I pushed Jiska through the tough parts, and looked at the chapel near the castle before going to the petting zoo on the other side of the gardens. Once there, we fed the deer that are the only inhabitants of the petting zoo and enjoyed the views of Kasteel de Haar more before heading back home to Vianen.

Kasteel de Haar is open daily except for major holidays. It is run by the government of the Netherlands and is used for special occasions along with guided tours. It is a must for anyone who is visiting the Utrecht area of the Netherlands and if I am there again, I am going back just to enjoy walking the gardens in such majestic beauty!

We seemed to have entered to the rear of the castle so strolling to the left we found the gateway and bridge across the moat and mounted the steep granite steps to enter. A circular stone staircase lead down down to the dungeon and what a nice dungeon. Would you believe bright cafe, tourist shop, restrooms in low ceiling cave atmosphere. A bit of a surprise since we were told the family is still in residence and but you can view the paintings, tapestries, and furnishings inside on the hour with a tour.

Opting for the gardens and view of the castle instead, we struck off down the path to the manicured formal part of the 100 hectares. Behind us the the spikey coned round turrets of the red brick monument pierced our overcast leaden sky as we admired the classic box hedge pruned to an inch of its life and marveled at the lush green landscage produced by this sometimes dreary weather. To the left of the main buildingwas another entrace with draw bridge and metal spiked gate waiting to crush all intruders. Nearby was chapel in the same style matching all the castle and gate houses with red and white striped shutters on all the endless windows.

After a long leisurely mistly walk we retuned to the moat and castle and then finally said so long as we passed the stables and the four car garage.

Castle and park $7.50- park $2.50- Gardens open Mon-Thurs 11-4, Sat.-Sun 1-4. The castle has changing hours all through the year and the week, so best to check with tourist office before your visit.

For more info. 030-6773804.