Laarne (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈlaːrnə]) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders.

[2] The current mayor of Laarne is Ignace De Baerdemaecker, from the VLD (Liberal) party.

The castle dates from the twelfth and later centuries, notably, the seventeenth, and has been sympathetically restored and re-furnished.

It is possible to speculate that the village originated in serving the castle, which in turn, guarded the river approach to Ghent from the sea.

The lordship passed by inheritance through the families of Schoutheete, Van Vilsteren and others, finally to the counts of Ribaucourt.