Slot Zuylen is a Dutch castle at the village of Oud-Zuilen

Oud-Zuilen

Oud-Zuilen is a town in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is a part of the municipality of Stichtse Vecht, and lies about 4 km northwest of Utrecht. It is in an area called the "Vechtstreek".In 2001, the town of Oud-Zuilen had 224 inhabitants...

 just north of the city of Utrecht

Utrecht (city)

Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...

. It is located at the southern end of the Vechtstreek

Vechtstreek

The Vechtstreek is a region in the Dutch provinces of Utrecht and North Holland along the Vecht River between the towns of Utrecht and Amsterdam...

.

History

The castle was originally built in the 13th century by lord van Suilen en Anholt as a simple donjon. In 1422 during the Hook and Cod wars

Hook and Cod wars

The Hook and Cod wars comprise a series of wars and battles in the County of Holland between 1350 and 1490. Most of these wars were fought over the title of count of Holland, but some have argued that the underlying reason was because of the power struggle of the bourgeois in the cities against...

 the castle was completely demolised. In 1510 rebuilding started. In 1752 the castle was modified for the last time. It holds a tapestry by the Delft carpet

Carpet

A carpet is a textile floor covering consisting of an upper layer of "pile" attached to a backing. The pile is generally either made from wool or a manmade fibre such as polypropylene,nylon or polyester and usually consists of twisted tufts which are often heat-treated to maintain their...

 weaver Maximiliaan van der Gught. Its past inhabitants include Steven van der Hagen

Steven van der Hagen

Steven van der Hagen was the first admiral of the Dutch East India Company . He made three visits to the East Indies, spending six years in all there. He was appointed to the Raad van Indië...

 and Belle van Zuylen.